A new tool for interpreting the Montana state constitution is now available.
The current constitution was drafted by a convention that adjourned on March 24, 1972. A June 6 date was set for a referendum on the new proposal. It was during those 74 days that the finished constitution was explained to the voters. It was explained in pamphlets, flyers, speeches, and broadcasts—and most importantly in newspaper articles.
When serving on the University of Montana faculty, I learned that the state courts—and particularly the state supreme court—often misinterpreted their state constitution. Judges seeking guidance on the constitution’s meaning usually consulted the convention transcript but ignored the ensuing ratification debate. This procedure makes no sense: It the voters’ understanding, not the convention debates, that gave meaning to the document. Moreover, when the people voted on the constitution, the convention transcript was still unpublished and unavailable.
Accordingly, in 2008, I compiled a database of ratification documents and released them to the public. You can find the collection here. Then in early 2025, I compiled a database of over 1000 news stories and opinion columns written on the constitution during the 74 days of the ratification campaign. You can now access that material here.
There still are aspects of this collection that make it hard to search. That’s a software problem, which I’ve asked sponsors to correct. In the interim, I think it is better for even an imperfect collection to be public than to remain unavailable.