Canon No. 1, of the Montana Code of Judicial Conduct, states: “A judge shall uphold and protect the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.”

Many Montana District Court judges and justices of the Supreme Court are deeply concerned by the dark money attacks on a present candidate for the Montana Supreme Court, and its potential impact on the integrity and independence of the Montana judiciary.

Dirk Sandefur has been a respected Cascade County District Court judge for 14 years. He is widely respected for his intelligence, integrity, common sense and work ethic. In his last election, he received 88 percent of the votes in Cascade County, where he is best known. Before he went to law school, he was a police officer in Havre. To suggest he is “soft on crime” is not true.

Yet he is being portrayed in political attack ads as soft on sex criminals and basically unfit for office. Cherry-picked from the thousands of cases Judge Sandefur has handled are a few cases which are then inaccurately portrayed. The sentences in each of those cases were consistent with the recommendations of the prosecuting attorneys, and the guidelines established by the Legislature.

The media attacks against Judge Sandefur are extremely misleading and unfair. Hundreds of thousands of dollars will be spent on television, newspapers and direct mail attacks, paid for by undisclosed dark money. Neither the source of the money nor the agenda of the contributors are ever revealed.

This is not intended to be an endorsement of either candidate. It is intended to strongly encourage voters to seek out information about judicial candidates from reliable sources, not from this kind of misleading political attack.

Manley is district judge for Polson and Thompson Falls. He was joined in signing this letter by District Judge Robert B. Allison of Kalispell, District Judge Amy Eddy of Kalispell, retired Supreme Court Justice Jim Regnier (of Lakeside), retired Supreme Court Justice Terry Trieweiler (of Whitefish) and 22 other current and retired judges.