Jeremiah Lynch for Supreme Court Chief Justice
Nonpartisan Position
By Denise Rivette
Montana Independent News posed the same four questions to all candidates Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Jeremiah Lynch’s views are presented in their entirety below. He was the only candidate to respond.
What are the Montana values that will guide your decision-making?
My judicial decision making will be guided by the same values as Chief Justice as it was when I was a Federal Magistrate Judge: integrity, ethics, fairness and hard work. All four are necessary to make absolutely sure that the law is applied without favor or fear by every court so that all citizens receive the impartial judicial decision to which they are entitled.
What skills, knowledge and experience do you possess that make you the better candidate?
I am the best candidate for Chief Justice because I have relevant experience that my opponents lack. I am the only candidate in the race who has ever written a judicial opinion or presided over a jury trial. Both experiences are essential qualifications for Chief Justice of Montana’s highest Court because that Court reviews the decisions of our lower courts to ensure that the parties to a case received a fair hearing based on the facts and the law and a complete measure of justice. I also have extensive litigation experience both as an attorney and as a Settlement Master in many of the most complex civil cases in our State’s recent history. This experience sets me apart from the other candidates and will ensure I’m ready for the job on day one.
What is your approach to judicial decision making?
As Chief Justice, I would continue to employ the judicial philosophy I consistently followed as a Judge. I master the controlling law in the case before me, gain a command of the facts to which the law is to be applied impartially, and ascertain the intent of any constitutional provision, statute or regulation that the parties to a case may need me to interpret. In other words, I start on the wide end of a proverbial funnel, reviewing many facts and controlling authorities, then allowing the parties’ arguments to narrow my focus, and ultimately issuing an opinion that resolves the dispute before me and provides guidance to future litigants and reinforcement to the rule of law. I will never decide a case from the opposite direction, starting with my own political views or personal preferences and then trying to graft my opinion onto the facts or the law before me.
As Chief Justice what do you hope to accomplish?
My top priorities are to maintain the independence of the Judiciary as a co-equal branch of our government, which is necessary to provide a check and balance on the Legislative and Executive branches, and to protect Montana’s remarkable Constitution. The system of checks and balances envisioned by the framers of our 1972 Constitution was designed to preserve the power of the people and to protect the individual rights guaranteed to them by that founding document. I also think it is imperative that we strive to realize the aspirational goal of equal access to the courts for all citizens, regardless of their social or economic standing. Realization of that goal will take two things always in short supply: time and money. I will do everything in my power to advocate for adequate resources for our third branch of government.