The Blog at MSPC

The best way to defend the constitution is not to dig in one’s heels to protect an inaccurate and distorted version. The best way is to call a convention to, first, clean up drafting mistakes that tend to discredit the document, and, second, to correct judicial distortions of it.

The only way the people of Montana can systematically update their constitution is to commission a state convention to propose a new one.

Authoritarian mandates do not belong in a constitution for a free people. And a constitution should leave no doubt that the people, not the government, are the source of all political power.

In 2030, Montanans will decide whether to hold a new state constitutional convention. This column is the fourth in a series designed to provoke discussion in advance of this important decision. Previous columns examined the poor drafting of the constitution’s university and environmental provisions. Poorly drafted constitutional language encourages lawyers and judges to “interpret” it in ways that take power away from the people and their elected representatives.