Montana Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments at Dennison Theater

On Friday, the Montana Supreme Court will gather in the Dennison Theater on the UM Campus to hear oral arguments in a case out of Flathead County.

Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court, Bowen Greenwood provides details.

“Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. the Justices of the Montana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of the City of Kalispell v Thomas Salsgiver,” said Greenwood. “It’s a case that concerns the right to trial by jury and whether or not Mr. Salsgiver's right to trial by jury was violated, so it should be something that a lot of folks will find interesting.”

Greenwood said once oral arguments are heard the justices will confer at the site.

“I just had a meeting with the Chief Justice yesterday where he told me that the standard practice is for the justices to meet immediately afterwards and try to reach a decision,” he said. “Hopefully, not too far in the future they should be able to release an opinion.”

Greenwood said the Court makes a practice of holding oral arguments in various cities throughout the state.

“The court likes to go out and introduce the public to the process that goes on here,” he said. “We’ll be in Missoula this month and next month we’ll be in Bozeman, and they also typically do oral arguments on the road when the Bar Association holds their convention, which is in Kalispell this year.”

Greenwood encourages the public, teachers and school groups to come and view the oral arguments as an educational experience.