ATTORNEY GENERAL MIKE MCGRATH
STATE OF MONTANA

FOR RELEASE: July 11, 2006

CONTACT: Lynn Solomon, 444-0582 or Judy Beck, 444-5774

McGrath: Application to Supreme Court Lacks Merit

HELENA – Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath today released the following statement in response to an application filed with the Montana Supreme Court.

This case has been before our courts for 20 years. It has been reviewed many times by both state and federal courts, including three times by the Montana Supreme Court.

In spite of that, and in direct opposition to Mr. Dawson's wishes, the applicants today ask for an 11th-hour remedy they have no standing to seek.

The State maintains that Mr. Dawson is the only person who has the legal right to challenge the procedure in this case. For the past two years Mr. Dawson has made his wishes clear, and he wishes to end the litigation. Further, state and federal courts have found Mr. Dawson competent to make that decision.

In my view, this application lacks legal merit.