On June 21, the Ninth Circuit issued this 6-page opinion in Sanders County Republican Party v Fox, 12-35816. This is a Montana decision. The decision re-affirms the panel’s earlier determination that political parties have a right to endorse candidates for judicial office. But the decision also says that the separate issue of whether parties can be banned from contributing to candidates for judicial office was never part of the case, and therefore it reverses the U.S. District Court on that issue.

The ban on political party endorsements, and the ban on political party contributions, are all part of the same code section. The U.S. District Court had struck down the entire code section, but it is now clear that only the endorsement ban is unconstitutional and the issue of contributions has not been adjudicated.