Supreme Court Hearing Tomorrow

The Montana Supreme Court hearing in our case is tomorrow.  It is scheduled to take place at 9:30 a.m. in the court’s chambers on the third floor of the Justice and State Library Building, 215 N. Sanders, in Helena.  The Court has ordered that each side has 30 minutes or less in which to make its oral arguments, and they will be fairly technical in nature.  There will be only two issues in front of the Court:  (1) Did the District Court err in granting a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of certain provisions of SB423, and (2) Did the District Court err in not enjoining the entire Marijuana Act?  In other words, the oral arguments will be short and technical.

For those who plan to attend, please be mindful that you MUST be on your very best behavior.  There will be absolutely no tolerance for outbursts, cat-calls, booing, applause, or other inappropriate behavior.  This is the highest court in the state and not a place for venting or impressing your friends with your passion for the subject.  Those types of actions nearly always work against us and feed the oppositions’ stereotypes of us and will help no one but our adversaries.

Be early, be well-dressed, do not “medicate” prior to the hearing, and please be respectful and silent during the proceedings.  The state of Montana and likely the national press will be paying attention, and any outbursts will be the first thing the press talks about.  I will post a summary of the proceedings after they wrap up, so stay tuned!