Letters to the editor Sept. 23

Lynch has experience

The voters will have a choice in November to select a chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court. Among the recognized qualities for any judge are fairness, impartiality, knowledge, industriousness and diplomacy. 

The Montana chief justice is the face of the court, interacting with the other branches of Montana government in a nonpartisan way, and providing the leadership for the administration of Montana’s highest court while interacting with the members of the legal profession. 

Each voter is requested to contact practicing or retired Montana attorneys who are not politicians and ask their opinions as to who is the most qualified to be chief justice, Judge Jerry Lynch or Cory Swanson. 

In my opinion, as an attorney who has practiced law for 53 years, Judge Lynch, who was a U.S. magistrate judge for over a decade, including writing hundreds of judicial opinions, wins my vote. Why? The answer can be summed up in one word — experience. 

Contrast Swanson, who has never worn a black robe, never rendered a judicial decision and who openly criticizes the current members of the Montana Supreme Court with unsupported personal attacks — hardly judicial and certainly without the requisite diplomacy required of a chief justice.

— Lon Dale, Missoula

CI-128 unnecessary

CI-128 is totally unnecessary, because “abortion up to viability,” is already legal in Montana.

Pro-abortion advocates dispute established scientific fact that human life begins at conception. “Viability” (used to determine the “starting point” for when babies cannot be killed) has changed: 26 weeks in the 1970s to 20-21 weeks today. It will continue to change as science and medicine progress. Therefore, using viability as a standard for when a baby cannot be murdered is illogical.  

Furthermore, CI-128 would enshrine “abortion up to viability” in our state constitution, making Montana the most pro-abortion state in the U.S. Vote no on CI-128.

— Julie Baldridge, Kalispell