ACLU warns Montana ruling could gut First Amendment protections
By Darrell Ehrlick, Daily Montanan
Published March 7, 2026 9:56 AM ET
The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression are asking the Montana Supreme Court to reconsider a 2003 decision as it relates to a current free speech case because they said it sets a dangerous precedent by placing addition hurdles for speech to get protection, contrary to the First Amendment rights found in both the state and federal constitutions.
The current case concerns Matthew Gordon Mayfield who allegedly told two police officers to “get f—ed” as he disputed the arrest of another man. Helena police officers arrested him, saying that he was interfering with the arrest. In the case, Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge relied on a 2003 case, State vs. Robinson, which led to Mayfield’s conviction. But Menahan’s reliance upon the case should be revisited, according to the two groups, because they warned that the Supreme Court got it wrong in 2003 and risked getting it wrong in 2026.
The 2003 case follows very similar contours in which a man was arrested by Helena Police for similar reasons, after calling an officer a profane name, seemingly for little reason.
https://www.rawstory.com/montana-first-amendment/
Reminds me in some ways of the book I am reading.............. Murder the Truth by David Enrich ..................on how those in the courts and those that are in the public eye go after the media and are hell bent on reversing New York Times vs Sullivan