Montana Sports Shooting Association, Inc., and Gary S. Marbut, Plaintiffs and Appellants v. State of Montana…

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the State, holding that the statutory prohibition on FWP employees using official authority to influence political actions applies only to partisan political activity. Accordingly, the statute does not prohibit FWP employees from lobbying the Legislature or appearing before legislative committees regarding proposed legislation. Justice Nelson, dissenting, would have held that the statute's plain language prohibits those activities, subject only to specific statutory exceptions.