Ron Waterman

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Ron Waterman (b. 1944) is a 2008 candidate for Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court. Waterman ran against then Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath for an eight-year term on the court in a non-partisan election and lost in his bid to inherit the retiring Chief Justice Karla Gray's seat.^[1]

A New Jersey native, Waterman hitchhiked to Montana when he was 16 where he spent a summer baling and stacking hay at a ranch in Big Hole Valley. He returned to New Jersey to finish high school but returned to Montana for college, where he graduated with a degree in philosophy. He stacked hay every summer during his years of schooling at the Big Hole ranch.

Waterman has been married to his wife, Mignon, for 43 years. She is a former Democratic state legislator from Helena. The couple has two sons and two grandchildren.

2008 General election results

On November 4, Attorney General Mike McGrath defeated Helena lawyer Ron Waterman by a count of 75% to 25%. McGrath, who was scheduled to be term limited from his position as AG now moves to the Supreme Court.^[2]

Legal

Waterman received both his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Montana (1966 and 1969, respectively). From 1969-1970, he clerked for the Honorable W.J. Jameson, U.S. Senior District Judge for the District of Montana. He is a partner in the firm of Gough, Shanahan, Johnson and Waterman in Helena.

Waterman has sued and defended insurance companies, and done a significant amount of free legal work in divorces and custody battles.

He has also done much free legal work, especially for indigent death row criminals. Waterman was a leader in creating Montana's public defender system which became operative in 2005. Waterman has represented at least three men who were exonerated after DNA reviews.^[3]

Notable cases

Waterman has represented a number of criminal defendants in Montana including Jimmy Ray Bromgard, a Billings, Montana man who was wrongfully convicted of raping an 8-year-old girl in 1987. Bromgard served 15 years in prison before genetic evidence exonerated him. With Waterman's help, he has since sued the state and Yellowstone County for damages. Additionally, "Waterman has represented Canyon Resources Corp., the Colorado mining company suing the state of Montana over the state’s ban on open-pit cyanide heap leach gold mining. [He] played a role in pushing for Montana’s statewide public defender system, which was created by the 2005 Legislature, and has taken a strong and public stance against Montana’s death penalty."^[4]

2008 campaign

Campaign advisors

Waterman's campaign advisors include the following Montana figures: Democratic lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate Dorothy Bradley, Sherri Ohs, widow of Republican the later Lt. Gov. Karl Ohs, as well as retired District Court Judge Gordon Bennett (who is the campaign's treasurer).^[5]

Judicial philosophy

Openness and transparency

Waterman has called for the court to make steps toward greater openness. He says that some court deliberations as a matter of justice to those involved should be closed, there are still ways to make the judicial process in Montana more open. He suggests:

• Begin a yearly "court day" in which legal scholars, journalists, the Montana State Bar and voter groups like the League of Women Voters, along with the general public meet to discuss ways of making the court system work better.

• Establish ties with the University of Montana's School of Journalism, the state's only professional journalism school, so future reporters understand the state's courts and can better inform Montanans about them.

• Lead all the state's courts in working with students from elementary to high school so residents have a firmer grasp on how Montana's courts work.

• Return the Montana Supreme Court to the practice of meeting at towns throughout the state for their oral arguments. This brings the court to people who might otherwise never watch the justices in action.

• He says the state's judiciary remains more misunderstood "because of the long tradition of being closed to the public."^[6]

Judicial independence

Waterman has strongly articulated a philosophy of judicial independence, saying, "While we respect the First Amendment right of free speech, Montanans have recently watched in shock as other states have seen judicial races that are little more than partisan battles. This erodes both judicial independence and respect for our courts."

Views on capital punishment

Candidate Waterman is an outspoken opponent of the death penalty. He said while campaigning in October that his well-known views in opposition to capital punishment mean that he would have to recuse, or disqualify, himself from hearing any death penalty cases that would come before the court. Three people have been executed in Montana since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1970s and there are two convicted criminals (Ronald Smith and William Gollehon) on death row.^[7]

• Waterman discusses capital punishment

Call for no special interest ads

In a May 5, 2008 press release, Waterman advocated for judicial elections free of PAC (Political Action Committee) or other special-interest money, and urged his opponent, Mike McGrath, to do the same.^[8]

"“Montanans expect their judges to rule on the basis of law, not personal preference. Independent campaign committees try to push voters to choose judges based on political views. Nothing could be worse for our courts.”

Associations and awards

• State Bar of Montana
• American Bar Association
• American Judicature Society
• American Law Institute
• American Bar Foundation (Current President)
• Board of Visitors at the University of Montana School of Law

External links

• Waterman's campaign website
• Chief justice hopefuls offer different views
• On our minds: Supreme Court race
• Waterman for Chief Justice

References