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Statewide political officials of Montana | ||
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Beth Baker | |
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| Associate Justice of the Montana Supreme Court | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | W. William Leaphart |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 29,1961 Spokane,Washington,U.S. |
| Education | University of Washington (BA) University of Montana (JD) |
Beth Baker (born November 29,1961) [1] is an American lawyer who is an associate justice of the Montana Supreme Court. [2] Elected on November 2,2010 and sworn into office on January 3,2011,she became the fourth woman to serve on Montana's highest bench. [3] She took the seat of the retired Justice W. William Leaphart. [3] In the 2018 election,Justice Baker was retained for another eight year term. [4]
Originally from Spokane,Washington, [5] she graduated magna cum laude in 1982 from the University of Washington with a bachelor's degree in Speech Communication. [2] Baker received her Juris Doctor degree,with high honors,from the University of Montana School of Law in 1985. [2]
Baker clerked for Judge Charles C. Lovell of the United States District Court for the District of Montana,from 1985 to 1989. [2] [6] For 11 years,from 1989 to 2000,she was an Assistant Attorney General with the Montana Department of Justice. [6] [2] During this time she served four years as Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General and four years as Chief Deputy Attorney General. [2] [6] She left state government for private practice at the Helena,Montana law firm of Hughes,Kellner,Sullivan and Alke from 2000 to 2010. [2] While there,she was awarded the State Bar of Montana's Bousliman Professionalism Award in 2006. [5] The award honored her efforts to provide access to legal services to people with limited means. [5]
Justice Baker served for ten years on the Montana Supreme Court's Access to Justice Commission. [5] As of 2024,she also serves as an ex officio director of the Montana Justice Foundation. [2]
In 2010,Baker ran against Nels Swandal for the vacated seat of Justice Leaphart. Baker was endorsed by Leaphart as his successor. [7] In her campaign,she promoted a non-partisan judiciary. [8] Even so,she was backed by left-leaning groups. [7] In contrast to Baker's adherence to non-partisanship,Swandal openly stated his conservative preference during the campaign. [8]
In 2018,Baker ran unopposed to retain her seat. She won 73% "yes" votes to the question if she should retain her seat. [9]
Statewide political officials of Montana | ||
|---|---|---|
| U.S. senators | | |
| State government | ||
| Senate |
| |
| House |
| |
| Supreme Court |
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