John Looney, Sr., owner of Bad Boy Bail Bonds, speak to the
A Helena-based bail bonding service told Montana’s Special Select Committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform on Friday that not only was the business at risk of closing unless it withdrew a complaint against a sitting Bozeman municipal court judge, but that other counties had begun to refuse to accept its bonds.
Additionally, the bonding service said a district court judge has sat on a request for an immediate injunction for more than week while the business loses at least $250,000 a month.
Bad Boy Bail Bonds’ owner James Looney, Sr., told the members of the all-Republican committee that has been investigating changes to the Montana judicial system that a squabble that began more than four years ago now threatens to shut down the business, which has operated across the state. Looney is a veteran and former Gallatin County sheriff’s deputy.
The case has drawn national attention. At the hearing, a spokesperson for the National Association of Bail Agents told legislators the judicial abuse of power threatens the liberty of those accused of crimes.
The issue stems from a bond that was issued by a different bail bonding company using the same name. An outstanding bail bond for $1,585 was issued and not paid, and Bozeman Municipal Judge Karolina Tierney said the court would not accept bail bonds until Looney’s company paid the outstanding bond.Looney had purchased the rights to the name but not the bail bonding business, and insisted that the bond in question wasn’t made by him, his staff or his company. Still, the municipal court refused to accept the bonds until the bail was paid.
Looney then filed a complaint with the judicial standards commission, the state’s regulatory and oversight body for judicial discipline. Because of strict confidentiality rules, neither Looney nor his attorney, Matthew Monforton, could speak about the pending complaint before the commission, much to the frustration of lawmakers who, on Friday, saw it as a violation of First Amendment rights and vowed to change it.
Looney told lawmakers on Friday that his business is losing out on from $250,000 to $350,000 in business every month by the decision not accept his bonds in Gallatin County, one of the state’s largest and busiest detention facilities. But on Friday, Looney and his attorney,who has led a number of successful civil rights suits, confirmed that the state’s largest county, Yellowstone, had also stopped accepting his bail bonds.
After Looney became aware of the dispute, he originally tried to reason with the Bozeman Municipal Court that the business in question shared the same name, but wasn’t the same. Then, Looney said he paid the bond because it made business sense so that he could continue operations. However, after paying the amount due, the municipal court still refused to take Looney’s secured bonds, saying that it would not do so until the complaint at the Judicial Standards Commission was resolved or withdrawn.
Even more surprising to Looney and Monforton was that the Bozeman Municipal Court also stopped an appeal to the Gallatin District Court, which would be the standard appeals process from the city court. The municipal court ordered the appeal stricken from the record, leaving Looney with no chance at recourse.
Monforton filed a separate lawsuit in Gallatin District Court asking for a temporary injunction, which would allow Looney to continue to do business in Gallatin County, but that lawsuit was filed on Sept.18 and the judge has neither responded, nor made any orders.
All sitting Gallatin County judges recused themselves from the case, and it was transferred to Park County District Judge Brenda Gilbert, where it remains.
The Daily Montanan reached out Yellowstone County Detention Facility on Friday. Clerks and staff there said that Bad Boy Bail Bonds were still being accepted, but a bail bondsman told the publication that he’d been there earlier in the week and saw a sign at the counter saying the bonds were not being accepted. He asked to take a picture of the sign and reasons for it, and said he was denied. His name is being withheld for fear of retribution.
“Courts should serve the public interest, not carry out a personal vendetta,” Looney said.
In Montana, bail bonding companies and bond professionals are licensed through the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance. A check with that office shows that Bad Boy Bail Bonds is licensed and in good standing, something that was confirmed by Looney and Monforton. Looney told the legislative committee that after the incident started, the municipal judges tried to lodge a complaint against his license, but the CSI office, which has jurisdiction, dismissed the complaint.
Members of the committee, including Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, wondered if judges even had the power to revoke a particular company’s bond if they were licensed by another branch of government within the state.
“There is no way to force a jail or judge to accept my bond, even though I am licensed and insured,” Looney said.
Looney reported that since the problems with the courts, he has lost 85% of his business. A Gallatin County bail bonding company that spoke with the Daily Montanan on Friday said that it didn’t want its name being used because it believed it would suffer the same fate as Looney for speaking out.
“Every word of that complaint is true. I have gotten part of his business,” the bail bonding company said. “It’s ridiculous. I have never seen anything like it.”
That sentiment was shared by Michelle Esquenazi, the owner of the largest bail bonding company in New York, Empire Bail Bonds. Esquenazi is the president of the National Association of Bail Agents. She said in her career and experience, she had never seen something as egregious as the Looney situation, and said she called to testify to let lawmakers know how concerned the national organization is about what she described as a “judicial abuse of power.”
“This is a grave concern because it threatens bail and our offer of swift liberty to those accused. I have never witnessed such unprofessional conduct. This is not only punitive, but left unchecked, it threatens all bail professionals,” Esquenazi said. “The judicial system can be weaponized against those who file a complaint.
“Accountability must exist up to and including those who sit on the bench. This has enabled a judge to go awry and put someone out of business.”
Looney also testified that in addition to helping serve the public’s constitutional right to bail, he helps with jail overcrowding, something that is a factor in both Gallatin and Yellowstone counties.
However, he said that even if the judicial standards commission finds merit with the complaint, state law makes it nearly impossible to recoup the thousands of dollars he’s lost in business. Judges enjoy immunity from lawsuits in their official capacities.
“The harm may be permanent and may felt for years. This is not a business dispute,” Looney said.
Meanwhile Monforton said that his client cannot continue to keep staff employed and keep the business operating for much longer and is concerned that he may have to close because of the hardship.
“I went to about 20 attorneys before Mr. Monforton and all of them said they had never seen anything like this,” Looney told Montana lawmakers. “But they all said they practice in the Bozeman Municipal Court, and they couldn’t take it.”
Monforton said that the rules around the Judicial Standards Commission are strict and dire, and neither he nor Looney could speak about the case they had before it, not even able to confirm it involves this particular situation.
“We cannot speak on it unless and until the JSC has weighed in on it,” Monforton said.
Lawmakers questioned whether that was a violation of the First Amendment, and what punishment the JSC or Montana courts could mete out for talking about it. Monforton told the lawmakers that violating the rule could lead to disciplinary sanctions for attorneys and the court could hold a resident in contempt.
“There’s a bigger issue here other than the travails of my client,” Monforton said. “I don’t think anyone filing a rationale JSC complaint should have to worry about retaliatory actions the courts are going to take.”
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