Montana
ACLU plans to spend $1.3M in educate Montana voters about state Supreme Court candidates
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union plans to spend $1.3 million on campaign advertising to educate Montana voters about where state Supreme Court candidates stand on abortion and other civil rights issues with a measure constitutionally protecting protect abortion access also on the ballot.
The expenditure comes after Republicans tried unsuccessfully in 2022 to unseat a justice by making an unprecedented partisan endorsement of her challenger. GOP lawmakers also argue that the Supreme Court has been legislating from the bench in blocking laws to restrict abortion access or make it more difficult to vote.
“With politicians passing increasingly extreme laws, including abortion restrictions and bans, voters have the opportunity to elect justices who will protect fundamental rights in the state from these attacks,” the national ACLU and the ACLU of Montana said in a statement Thursday.
State Supreme Court candidates cannot seek, accept or use partisan endorsements. The ACLU of Montana said it was not endorsing any candidates.
“From abortion to marriage equality and Indigenous voting rights, the people we entrust with seats on the Supreme Court of Montana will play a critical role in determining whether we keep the rights Montanans value or whether politicians will be allowed to take away our freedom,” Akilah Deernose, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.
The ACLU wants to make sure voters know where Supreme Court candidates stand on those issues “so that they can cast an informed ballot this November,” Deernose said.
The $1.3 million is the most the ACLU has spent on a Montana election, spokesperson Andrew Everett said. The ACLU is also spending money on Supreme Court races in Arizona, Michigan, Ohio and North Carolina.
Money has increasingly poured into state Supreme Court races in recent years, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and sent the abortion issue back to states, said Mike Milov-Cordoba of the Brennan Center for Justice.
Voters generally don’t have “strong preconceptions” of candidates in Supreme Court races, so the ad buy is “potentially significant,” he said.
Total spending on two Montana Supreme Court races in 2022 was a record $4.6 million, including $500,000 by the state Republican Party, according to the Brennan Center.
Milov-Cordoba said he wouldn’t be surprised to see similar spending this year, “especially given the conservatives’ frustration with the Montana Supreme Court pushing back on unconstitutional laws.”
The ACLU ads and mailers note that chief justice candidate Jerry Lynch and associate justice candidate Katherine Bidegaray agree with the analysis in a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling that found the state’s constitutional right to privacy protects the right to a pre-viability abortion from the provider of the patient’s choice.
Chief justice candidate Cory Swanson said it was not appropriate for him to comment on a case that may come before the court in the future, and associate justice candidate Dan Wilson did not respond to a survey sent out by the ACLU of Montana, the organization said.
A campaign committee, Montanans for Fair and Impartial Courts, has reported spending just over $425,000 for television ads endorsing Lynch, state campaign finance reports indicate.
What to know about the 2024 Election
Montana voters are being asked this fall whether the 1999 Supreme Court ruling should be enshrined in the constitution.
Historically, conservatives have accounted for a far greater share of spending in state Supreme Court races, Milov-Cordoba said. But since Roe v. Wade was overturned, groups on the left have nearly equaled that nationwide.
While abortion is a major issue driving the increased spending, state Supreme Courts are also being asked to rule in cases involving partisan gerrymandering, voting rights and climate change, he said.
“So who sits on those courts is a high-stakes matter,” he said.
BOZEMAN: A 41-year-old Montana man was charged with murder Friday in a brutal slaying at a remote campsite that had been initially reported as a possible bear mauling by people who found the victim’s body.
The suspect allegedly told authorities that he arrived at the campsite northeast of Big Sky, Montana, on Oct 10 intending to stay the night but found it occupied by 35-year-old Dustin Kjersem.
Kjersem, who didn’t know the suspect, welcomed him to the campsite and offered him a beer, according to Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer.
But sometime later the suspect driven by an unknown motive hit Kjersem with a piece of wood, stabbed him in the neck with a screwdriver and hit him with an axe, Springer said.
The victim’s girlfriend and another friend found his body Oct 12 and reported it as a possible bear attack. It turned into a homicide investigation after wildlife agents found no sign of a bear in the area.
After DNA found on a beer can from the campsite was matched with the suspect’s DNA, he was tracked down this week and arrested in Butte, Montana, Springer said.
He was being held on $1.5 million bail, according to sheriff’s department records.
Montana Lottery players lined up for a chance to win $1 million on Friday morning.
The lottery announced that ticket sales for the annual Montana Millionaire drawing would start at 5:30 a.m on Nov. 1.
The lottery game had 500,000 tickets available for purchase. Within three hours, tickets were sold out.
“The demand for Montana Millionaire this year has been absolutely incredible,” Bob Brown, the director of the Montana Lottery, said in a statement. “We knew tickets would sell fast, but under a 3-hour sellout for 500,000 tickets is truly unprecedented.”
On the lottery’s Instagram page, players are seen in long lines for a chance to try their luck at the million-dollar game. Only four people can win the grand prize.
To have a chance at winning a prize, interested players paid $20 to play the game, the lottery said.
“The Montana Millionaire lottery is back, and this year is the biggest yet!” Three Amigos Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, a retailer for the Montana Millionaire tickets, wrote in a Facebook post. “With 500,000 tickets up for grabs and FOUR massive $1 million grand prizes, 2024 could be your lucky year.”
Montana Millionaire players could also win ‘Quarter Million Monday’
Players will also have a chance at winning $250,000 in the “Quarter Million Monday” drawing on Dec. 2, the lottery said.
All players that purchased a ticket on Nov. 1 are eligible for the “Quarter Million Monday” drawing on Dec. 2 and the “Grand Prize” drawing on Dec. 26, the lottery said.
Montana Millionaire game sold out quickly in 2023
The Montana Lottery said that tickets for the 2023 game sold out in five hours.
In 2024, the lottery added 120,000 more tickets for players to purchase.
What are the odds of winning Montana Millionaire?
The overall odds of winning a prize in Montana Millionaire are 1 in 73.5, the lottery said.
Here is a table that shows the odds of winning for each drawing.
Can’t see the table? Click here to view it.
The lottery said that the odds for the “Quarter Million Monday” drawing Prize will depend on how many tickets are sold before the drawing deadline.
How to play Montana Millionaire
To play Montana Millionaire you must purchase a $20 ticket. Tickets can be purchased at any Montana Lottery retailer (i.e. convenience stores, bars/taverns, grocery stores, and casinos), the lottery said. In addition, players can purchase tickets at all of the lottery’s self-service terminals throughout the state.
Unlike traditional lottery games, Montana Millionaire does not have a play slip or numbers for players to choose, the lottery explains. Instead, every player that buys a ticket will be given a number that ranges from 000001 to 500000.
The deadline for the limited-ticket game was originally set for Dec. 25 at midnight, the lottery said. However, once tickets are sold out they are gone.
Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, food recalls, health, lottery, and public policy stories. Email her at aforbes@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter) @forbesfineest.
A Montana man found slain in his tent this month welcomed the suspect in his killing, a stranger, to his campsite and offered him a beer, the Gallatin County sheriff said Thursday.
Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, was arrested this week and charged with deliberate homicide in the killing of Dustin Kjersem, 35, whose body was found in his tent near Big Sky on Oct. 12, officials said.
It was a “chance encounter” at the campsite on the night of Oct. 10, and Abbey did not know Kjersem, Sheriff Dan Springer said at a news conference.
Abbey had planned to camp at the site, but when he arrived that night he found Kjersem was already there, with a wall tent, beds and a stove, Springer said.
Abbey in a confession to detectives, “stated Dustin welcomed him to the campsite and offered him a beer,” Springer said.
“At some point, this individual struck Dustin Kjersem with a piece of solid wood, stabbed him in the neck with a screwdriver and ultimately hit him with the ax,” Springer said. “The motives of this attack are still unknown.”
The state crime lab matched DNA from a beer can found in the tent to Abbey, Springer said.
Abbey was arrested Saturday in Butte, around 80 miles northwest of Big Sky. He was interviewed by sheriff’s detectives and Montana Justice Department investigators Tuesday and confessed to the killing, Springer said.
Kjersem planned to spend the weekend at the campsite with his girlfriend. He set up the camp on Oct. 10, a Thursday, and he planned to pick his girlfriend up from work the next night, Springer said.
Kjersem never arrived. The girlfriend and a friend drove to the campsite on Oct. 12, a Saturday, and found Kjersem dead in the tent, Springer said.
Kjersem’s injuries were such that the person who reported discovering his body suspected he had been attacked by a bear, the sheriff’s office has said. An autopsy confirmed it was homicide, not an animal attack.
Abbey had been living in a couple of different areas but most recently had a residence in Basin, Montana, a small community in the mountains northeast of Butte, Springer said. He had been employed in the Big Sky area at various times, Springer said.
Abbey was arrested on a probation violation in Butte but is charged with deliberate homicide in Kjersem’s death, the sheriff’s office said.
State Corrections Department records show Abbey was on conditional release after a prison sentence for a 2020 repeat driving under the influence case.
Abbey was being held in custody Thursday night without bond, jail records show. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
The investigation could take months more. Springer said detectives will work to put together more pieces of what occurred, including what motive Abbey might have had.
“We have a bit of his story, but we don’t really know what the true story is,” Springer said. “We have a story — we just don’t know if it’s accurate.”
Springer said that after he killed Kjersem, Abbey removed items he may have touched or which could connect him to the crime, including a cooler and the ax. He returned the next night and took more items, Springer said.
The sheriff’s office previously said an ax, a Yeti cooler, a shotgun and a revolver were missing from the campsite.
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