A Montana judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Montana State Representative Zachary Raasch; sorry, I mean “Zooey Zephyr,” demanding that “she” be readmitted to the Montana House of Representatives. As I reported last week, “Zephyr” was banned from the floor of the Montana House after a majority of the members determined “she” had violated rules of conduct by accusing them of “having blood on their hands” and egging on the transurrectionists who disrupted House business (Unrepentant Trans Representative Zooey Zephyr Gets Symbolic Punishment From the Montana House). “Zephyr” telling colleagues to FOAD when given the opportunity to defend “her” actions probably didn’t help either. If you’re interested, “her” remarks start at 26:38 on the video. Sorry, Rumble doesn’t allow videos to open at a time hack.
In response to the ban that only lasted until the end of the legislative session — it ends this week — “Zephyr,” aided by the ACLU, naturally, filed suit demanding that “she” be allowed back into House chambers.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana. the law partners of Beck, Amsden, and Stalpes, and Mike Black, Esq. filed a lawsuit in state court today challenging the censure of State Representative Zooey Zephyr (HD 100). The lawsuit alleges that recent actions undertaken by House leadership to silence Representative Zephyr are a violation of her own First Amendment rights and the rights of her 11,000 constituents to representation in their state government.
“This effort by House leadership to silence me and my constituents is a disturbing and terrifying affront to democracy itself,” said Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr (HD 100). “House leadership explicitly and directly targeted me and my district because I dared to give voice to the values and needs of transgender people like myself. By doing so, they’ve denied me my own rights under the Constitution and, more importantly, the rights of my constituents to just representation in their own government. The Montana State House is the people’s House, not Speaker Regier’s, and I’m determined to defend the right of the people to have their voices heard.”
Unfortunately for “Zephyr,” the judge hearing the case had been to law school.
District Court Judge Mike Menahan said it was outside his authority to overrule lawmakers who voted last week to exclude Zephyr from the House floor and debates. He cited the importance of preserving the Constitution’s separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches.
“Plaintiffs’ requested relief would require this Court to interfere with legislative authority in a manner that exceeds this Court’s authority,” Menahan wrote in his ruling.
This was not partisanship. Judge Menahan is a former Democrat member of the Montana House and has been a state judge since 2013.
What Judge Menahan stated is unambiguously correct. The judiciary has no right to interfere in the rules the legislature adopts for its operation.
Because the Montana legislature only meets for less than 90 days in odd-numbered years, “Zephyr” will have to stand for reelection before the House meets again. Maybe sanity will regain a foothold, and the people of “her” district will realize that if they want real representation, an undisciplined nutter with gender identity issues might not be the best choice, but I wouldn’t count on it.
