Montana politics, elections and legislative news

Nelson: 'Dark Money' Ruining Supreme Court Elections

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Eric Whitney

Jim Nelson was appointed to Montana's Supreme Court by Governor Marc Racicot in 1993, and retired in 2012. He's long been an advocate for electing state Supreme Court justices. But now he's changed his mind.

Nelson points to two reports from the American Constitution Society as reasons for changing his stance. 2013's "Justice at Risk," and this year's "Skewed Justice," say evidence shows that "dark money" contributions enabled by the US Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling are changing the way judges and justices decide cases. Nelson talks about how and why campaign spending influences judges' decisions. 

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Eric Whitney is NPR's Mountain West/Great Plains Bureau Chief, and was the former news director for Montana Public Radio.