Montana, USA
Ron Waterman for Chief Justices

 
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Press Release | download here as Adobe PDF file

March 19, 2008

For Immediate Release

Contacts for Media:  Phone: (406) 442-8648

www.waterman4justice.com

Ron Waterman Announces His Candidacy for Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court

Helena attorney Ron Waterman Wednesday filed for the position of chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court.

“I am running for chief justice because Montana needs an energetic, hardworking leader in the highest court in these critical, changing times.  Montana is approaching a population of one million people.  The state is growing, changing and urbanizing.  These changes will confront Montana standards and values and those challenges will inevitably play out in our courts,” Waterman told a crowd of supporters at the state Capitol.

Waterman earned a B.A. degree from the University of Montana in 1966 and a law degree in 1969.  He clerked for U.S. District Judge William J. Jameson of Billings after graduation and has practiced law in Helena for 38 years.

The co-chairs of Waterman’s campaign are Dorothy Bradley and Sherri Ohs.  Bradley is a retired court administrator. She was a state representative from Bozeman and ran for governor in 1992. Ohs is a business woman in Helena and the widow of former Lt. Gov. Karl Ohs.  The treasurer for Waterman’s campaign is Gordon Bennett, a retired district court Judge.   The campaign manager is Jim Oppedahl, former administrator of the Montana Supreme Court. 

Waterman said he had been involved with a number of agencies which make Helena an outstanding community, including 35 years on the United Way board, the Florence Crittenton Home board and the National Crittenton Foundation. He has been married to Mignon Waterman, a former state senator, for almost 43 years. They have two adult children, Kyle and Briar, a wonderful daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.

“My clients,” Waterman said, “have included thousands of individuals -- both the poor and the more fortunate.  I have represented a wide variety of clients.  Individual clients are the most numerous, but I have also represented a wide diversity of organizations such as the high school association, the stock growers, the news media, people with mental illnesses and disabilities and a variety of businesses, large and small.”  He said that his first argument before the Montana Supreme Court in 1973 was to defend a small neighborhood market in Helena from condemnation.

Waterman said he was proud to have been the lead attorney for the Montana Freedom of Information Hotline, a free legal service to citizens denied access to public meeting, records and the courts.  Waterman said that he has presented matters to the Montana Supreme Court and to federal appellate courts close to 100 times.  He helped shape Montana’s public defender system, provide gender equity in our high schools and lobbied for the state’s stream access law which he helped write.  ``More than 20 percent of my professional time in recent years has been devoted to  pro bono services --  free legal assistance for clients unable to pay for an attorney,’’ he said.

Waterman said that he is “running for chief justice to provide the people of Montana a choice in this critical non-partisan race to lead the judicial branch.   I have never sought or held political office.  I am running for chief justice because I believe I am well prepared to provide crucial leadership in our court for all who seek justice and expect the courts to reach decisions based on the facts and the law.  For the public to have confidence in the courts, they must be perceived to be without bias, function without bias and operate without political interference.”

Waterman, 64, recalled arriving in Montana as a young man and working on a ranch in the Big Hole Valley putting up hay.  “My love affair with Montana started there and the Big Hole has always been my first Montana home. “

Waterman said he wants to lead Montana’s court system because ``most of all I believe that each person accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty and that all persons deserve competent lawyers. This has been the foundation of my legal career and it will continue as a fundamental component during my service as chief justice.’

’Waterman said he intends to run a vigorous statewide campaign and looks forward to sharing his values and discussing his visions for the future of the state’s courts.
 
  
Ronald F. Waterman

































 

  
 

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