Court Cases

Generally, when a court is determining whether or not someone's speech is protected under the First Amendment, "fighting words" are those likely to provoke immediate violence. But in City of Helena v. Mayfield, the Montana First Judicial District Court's ruling relied on a previous case, State v. Robinson, in which the Montana Supreme Court ruled that insulting a police officer constitutes unprotected fighting words because it is “sufficiently and inherently inflammatory” and does not contribute “to our constitutionally-protected social discourse.” Joined by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), ACLU of Montana filed an amicus brief in the Montana Supreme Court arguing that Robinson should be overruled. If speech critical of the government can be punished as fighting words merely because—in the government’s view—it is inflammatory and/or fruitless, the government could suppress speech entitled to the highest level of protection. Moreover, even speech on the periphery of the First Amendment is afforded protection to safeguard freedom of expression. If Robinson remains on the books, courts will continue to invoke it—as the trial court did here—to authorize government retaliation against clearly protected expression.

On August 14, 2025, the Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation and two Native voters filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana challenging Chouteau County’s unfair, at-large voting system for the Board of County Commissioners. The suit alleges the system unlawfully dilutes the voting strength of Native voters and has denied them any representation on the county commission for more than a decade. Under the current at-large system, all voters in Chouteau County cast ballots for all three commissioners, instead of electing commissioners by district. As a result, Native voters — who now make up approximately one-third of the county’s voting-age population — have consistently been unable to elect a candidate of their choice. The three current commissioners have all been elected and re-elected under this system since at least 2010. For more information, read ACLU of Montana and NARF’s joint press release here.

This case challenges HB 121, a newly enacted law which stigmatizes and discriminates against transgender, intersex, and gender-nonconforming Montanans by effectively barring access public facilities and private nonprofit domestic violence programs