Veteran Justice Rice seeks a fourth term; challenger D'Alton vows to serve just one

One Montana Supreme Court contest is getting the most attention – and the most campaign cash – but there's another race on the ballot, too.

That race pits Justice Jim Rice, the longest-serving justice on the Supreme Court, against Bill D'Alton, a Billings attorney who has pledged to serve only one term and hasn't raised a penny for his campaign.

Rice won the nonpartisan primary with 78% of the vote to D'Alton's 28%. Both advanced to the November election. According to the most recent filings, Rice has raised about $39,000 in donations.

That's in stark contrast to the almost $600,000 raised so far in the race between Justice Ingrid Gustafson and challenger James Brown.

D'Alton said no fundraising is the way he wants it.

"If you want a neutral judge ... and you're sitting there and you're weighing a decision and you receive all this money from one group, is it going to weigh on your mind?" D'Alton asked. "I don't know how it can't."

D'Alton filed a day before the deadline to run against Rice primarily because he felt voters deserved another option.

"Elections should be about the competition of ideas," he said. "If you like my ideas, vote for me. If you don't, then vote for Justice Rice."

D'Alton has practiced law for 28 years, including the last 14 years in Billings. He received his law degree from the University of Montana in 1995 and is an enthusiastic gardener.

Although he has never been a judge, D'Alton describes himself as a "main street lawyer," and he touts his ability to represent anyone. He said he wants to serve as a Supreme Court justice to uphold the state's Constitution and make the system better.

One of D'Alton's critiques of the current court is what he describes as a lack of transparency. In July, the Montana Supreme Court decided the Republican-majority Legislature errored in issuing a subpoena for emails from the court's administrator. D'Alton said some should be held private – medical records and private employment decisions are two examples – but everything else should be fair game for the public to view.

Justice Rice said he was the only justice who sued the Legislature in response to the subpoena, acting as a citizen instead of a justice.

"I think that approach showed respect for the rule of law," Rice said.

Justice Rice isn't critical of D'Alton's commitment to a single term but said he thinks citizens appreciate the depth of knowledge that comes with serving on a court for more than one term.

"There is a reason why there are not term limits on judges like there are other positions," Rice said. "The principles behind that are that the law is an immense body of knowledge, and I will never even know it all by the time I'm done."

Rice was appointed to the Supreme Court by former Republican Gov. Judy Martz in 2001 and has been on the Montana Supreme Court ever since. He is running again because he wants to continue the work he's done over the past 21 years. He also hopes to get more information out to the public about what the court does to try and restore some of the lost faith in the system.

"I think we're seeing efforts in society to undermine institutions that question the role of institutions, and I have been working hard to resist the efforts to undermine the courts," Rice said.

Rice said he anticipates the Supreme Court seeing many drug and alcohol addiction cases in the next term, along with more clean energy-related cases. Rulings he said he is most proud of during his career thus far include opinions he wrote related to stream access and environmental protections. He said he spends a lot of his time outside the court with his grandkids.

Ballots will be mailed Oct. 14. All votes must be cast by 8 p.m. on Nov. 8.