Introduction

With this blog I hope to engender dialog about improving and updating Montana’s Court system. First, I’ll start off with some of my background, so that the dialog will have context.
My name is Rick Gold, I live in Missoula, and I am an activist working for social and environmental awareness, and hopefully, to effect positive change.
This blog is a conversation from the street level view of the Montana Court System in the 21st century as I have personally experienced it. I am NOT an attorney, yet, because of lack of finances, I have been forced to act as my own attorney (pro se) in a Civil case against the City and County of Missoula since January 2003.
This situation of Montanan’s being forced to be their own Civil attorneys because of lack of funds is what I will call the large pink and white elephant in the middle of Montana’s Court Rooms statewide. In 2002-2003, even though Duties: For Montana lawyers: included PRO BONO PUBLICO SERVICE, “Every lawyer has a professional responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay,” I could find NO competent Civil attorney (although I called them all in a 10 mile radius of Missoula as well as the Montana Legal Aid and the Montana ACLU).
So, I had to file pro se and learn as I went. Pull myself up by my bootstraps, Montana style. Since, 2003, I have learned a great deal about the Montana Legal System and it’s Courts and procedures and somehow managed to hold my own facing the well funded and well staffed law offices of the City and the County. Then in May 2007, being frustrated with what was happening with my case, I asked Judge Harkin to appoint Public Counsel for me under the then new Montana Public Defender act which claimed to be , “Establishing a Statewide Public Defender System and Specifying the Scope of Public Defender Services in Criminal and Civil Proceedings …” But, Judge harkin denied my motion stating, he relied upon an email from Ed Sheehy, Jr – Regional Deputy Public Defender, Region 2, that stated that “Montana law only allows for the appointment of counsel in cases governed by section 47-1-104(4), MCA. The only civil cases where appointment may be authorized are: postconviction; habeas corpus; involuntary commitment; and, guardianships.”
Yet, the Montana Constitution guarantees in Article II – Section 4, that, “ No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. Neither the state nor any person, firm, corporation, or institution shall discriminate against any person in the exercise of his civil or political rights on account of race, color, sex, culture, social origin or condition, or political or religious ideas.” So, why would the state government and Montana’s Courts deny equal protection of the laws in the court rooms of this state by specifically discriminating against the poor in Civil cases? Who benefits? Who loses? Really, I don’t know.
I have filed twice with the Montana Supreme Court (Writs of Supervisory Control) but the Supreme Court has neglected to respond. So, now, consequently, I have just filed another lawsuit (in Missoula against the State, our legislature & our Governor) asking why only those four clases of Civil cases (above) rate equality when the only qualifier (within the public defender law ) I can determine is that one doesn’t have the funds to pay an attorney. What are your thoughts?