Progressive Policy through Law and Litigation

The Montana American Constitution Society will be hosting a Progressive Policy through Law and Litigation Panel on Monday, November 25. We will be joined by Raph Graybill, the chief legal counsel to Governor Steve Bullock. Raph will be talking about the importance of law and litigation in implementing progressive policies. 

Working with Governor Bullock, Raph Graybill has been an architect of Montana’s aggressive strategy to use legal tools to implement progressive policies. Raph’s adroit use of legal tools has been successful in checking the Trump Administration’s overreach and removing legal barriers to forward-looking public policy. 

About Graybill: Graybill serves as Governor Bullock's Chief Legal Counsel. He is a fifth-generation Montanan from Great Falls. Graybill is a graduate of Yale Law School, Columbia University, and the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar and wrote a thesis in political theory focused on the Montana Constitution. Before joining the Governor's team, Graybill clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and was in private practice at the litigation boutique Susman Godfrey. Graybill is a former ACS student chapter leader and is active with the Montana lawyer chapter.

Significant representations on behalf of Governor Bullock include: 

Bullock v. IRS, which successfully invalidated a Trump-Administration rule that would have allowed so-called "dark money" groups to hide the sources of their donations from the federal government.

Bullock v. Fox, a precedent setting case about the division of power in the executive branch between the Governor and Attorney General that overturned an Attorney General opinion related to public lands access.

Montana Smoke Free Ass'n v. Bullock, ongoing case challenging Bullock admin's temporary restriction on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in response to national outbreak.

Creation of the first-in-the-nation executive order protecting net neutrality following the federal government's repeal of net neutrality rules.

Creation of the first-in-the-nation executive order requiring disclosure of dark money political spending by state government contractors.

Representations as amicus or party before the United States Supreme Court.

Please join us in Room 101 on November 25, 2019 from noon to 1 p.m. and bring your questions. Bridge pizza will be served. 

*ACS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational organization. It does not take positions on candidates, pending legislation, or judicial nominees.