Supreme Court makes historic stop in Kalispell

The Montana Supreme Court made what was reportedly its first-ever stop in Kalispell during the 37th annual meeting of the Montana State Bar Friday.

According to University of Montana Law Professor Martin Burke, who introduced the two cases, justices listened to the oral arguments, which are normally heard in the high court’s chambers in Helena. Like Friday’s hearings, those are also open to the public.

“As a practical matter, our court for many years has traveled to two or more communities in the state to hear oral arguments, and the reason our court has done that is to afford a much broader range of people in our state the opportunity to learn something about their Supreme Court and, for that matter, their court system,” Burke said.

Among the stops the court makes every year are Missoula, where the University of Montana is located, and Bozeman, which is home to Montana State University. Through those opportunities, Burke said, college students as well as high school students along with members of the general public are able to attend. At Friday’s hearings, a government class from Glacier High School was in attendance.

Because Justice James Rice could not attend, Flathead County District Court Judge Ted Lympus sat in as the seventh member of the court for the proceedings. He will also be involved in making the court’s decision on the two cases heard Friday. The two cases involved various aspects of business law and contract law.