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Anthony Johnstone
Helen & David Mason Professor of Law & Affiliated Professor of Public Administration
Contact
- Office: Law 312
- Phone: (406) 243-6711
- Fax: (406) 243-2519
- Email: anthony.johnstone@umontana.edu
- Office Hours:
Office hours via Zoom by appointment (send a meeting invitation)
- Website: http://www.umt.edu/people/johnstone
Personal Summary
Anthony Johnstone is the Helen and David Mason Professor of Law and an affiliated Professor of Public Administration at the University of Montana's Blewett School of Law. He teaches and writes about Federal and State Constitutional Law, Legislation, Election Law, Jurisprudence, and related subjects. Professor Johnstone's scholarship has been cited more than one hundred times by judges, scholars, and practitioners. He has served as counsel in more than two dozen published cases in state and federal courts, including petition-stage or merit-stage briefs for five cases at the Supreme Court of the United States. His legal work has been featured in the The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The National Law Journal, and he has testified before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee and the Montana Legislature. Before joining the School of Law, Professor Johnstone served as the Solicitor for the State of Montana, practiced litigation as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York, New York, and clerked for the Honorable Sidney R. Thomas, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. with honors from the University of Chicago Law School.
Education
J.D. with Honors, University of Chicago (1999)
B.A., Yale College (1995)
Courses Taught
- Constitutional Law, LAW 558 (Every Fall, 4 Credits) [2021 Syllabus]
- Advanced Constitutional Law, LAW 604 (Odd Spring, 3 Credits) [2021 Syllabus]
- Montana Constitutional Law, LAW 618 (Every Spring, 3 Credits) [2020 Syllabus]
- Legislation: Law & Politics, LAW 652 (Every Fall, 3 Credits) [2020 Syllabus]
- Philosophy of Law, LAW 664 (Even Spring, 3 Credits) [2020 Syllabus]
- Supreme Court Seminar, LAW 667 (Occassional Winter, 1 Credit) [2021 Syllabus]
Publications
The Montana Constitution in the State Constitutional Tradition (casebook, forthcoming 2022)
Minibriefs and Minimoots in Seminars, in Tammy Pettinato Oltz, ed., Lawyering Skills in the Doctrinal Classroom (Carolina Academic Press, 2020)
A State Is a ‘They,’ Not an ‘It’: Intrastate Conflicts in Multistate Challenges to the Affordable Care Act, 2019 B.Y.U L. Rev. 1471 (2020)
Hearing the States, 44 Pepp. L. Rev. 575 (2018)
The Federalist Safeguards of Politics, 39 Harv. J. L. & Pub. Pol. 415 (2016)
A Past and Future of Judicial Elections: The Case of Montana, 16 J. App. Pro. & Practice 47 (2015)
Foreword: The Future of Federalism, From the Bottom Up, 76 Mont. L. Rev. (2015)
The Hercules of Helena: Justice James C. Nelson and the Jurisprudence of Principle, 75 Mont. L. Rev. 199 (2014)
Outside Influence, 13 Election L. J. 117 (2014)
The System of Campaign Finance Disclosure, 99 Iowa L. Rev. Bull. 143 (2014)
Recalibrating Campaign Finance Law, 32 Yale L. & Pol'y Rev. 217 (2013)
Commandeering Information (and Informing the Commandeered), 161 U. Pa. L. Rev. 205 (2013)
Foreword: The State of the Republican Form of Government in Montana, 74 Mont. L. Rev. 5 (2013)
Testimony, "The Citizens United Court and the Continuing Importance of the Voting Rights Act," U.S. Senate Judicary Committee (Sept. 12, 2012)
Council of Appellate Lawyers, The Appellate Practice Compendium (Montana chapter) 
(Dana C. Livingston, ed., American Bar Association 2012)
A Madisonian Case for Disclosure, 19 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 413 (2012)
The Constitutional Initiative in Montana, 71 U. Mont. L. Rev. 325 (2010)
Captive Regulators, Captive Shippers: The Legacy of McCarty Farms, 70 U. Mont. L. Rev. 239 (2009)
Peremptory Pragmatism: Religion and the Administration of the Batson Rule, 1998 U. Chi. Legal F. 441
Scholarly Papers: http://ssrn.com/author=546899
Affiliations
Elected Member, American Law Institute (Advisor, Principles of Government Ethics; Member Consultative Group, Principles of Election Law)
Senior Counsel, National State Attorneys General Program, Columbia Law School
Member, American Bar Association
Member, American Bar Foundation
Member, State bars of Montana and New York; Federal bars of the U.S. Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit, District of Montana, and Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of New York
Professional Experience
Solicitor, State of Montana (2008-2011)
Assistant Attorney General, State of Montana (2004-2008)
Associate, Cravath, Swaine & Moore (2000-2003)
Law Clerk, Hon. Sidney R. Thomas, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1999-2000)
DISCLOSURE: Professor Johnstone is counsel in the following cases:
State v. Talen, et al. (pending, Mont. 1st Dist. Ct. & D. Mont.)
Occasional consulting on other matters upon request
Honors / Awards
Montana Faculty Service Award, 2019
Law School Merit Award, 2019, 2017 & 2016
Howard W. and Jane S. Heman Memorial Law Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2018
Toelle-Bekken Family Memorial Fund Award, 2018
Boone Law Faculty Scholarship Award, 2016 & 2013
Native American Law Student Association Teaching Award, 2016
Robert & Pauline Poore Law Faculty Service Award, 2015
Curriculum & Instruction Partnership Award, 2015
Margery Hunter Brown Award for Teaching & Service, 2012