Municipal judges targeted business with the same name
By Darrel Ehrlick DAILY MONTANAN
John Looney literally fought the law.
And he won.
Looney, who owns Bad Boy Bail Bonds in Gallatin County, took two Bozeman municipal judges to court, alleging that they had unfairly and illegally discriminated against his business.
This week, the City of Bozeman has settled with him for $100,000.
Looney’s case was notable for several reasons: First, it saw him forced to take two municipal judges to federal court, after sitting Gallatin County state judges as well as the Montana Supreme Court appeared not to find a judge willing to take the case.
The case is also notable because it marks one of the few times in the state’s history where judges haven’t been protected by judicial immunity — a far-reaching legal doctrine in which judges cannot be sued for decisions related to administering justice as judge. However, U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy ruled that judicial immunity didn’t necessarily allow the judges to blacklist Looney’s business.
The case is also notable because the 2025 Legislature considered it in light of a slate of judicial reform bills that Republicans had championed, but mostly fizzled out by the session’s end. The case drew broad attention, leading the national bail bonding association to call on Montana leaders and courts to remedy what it believed was a miscarriage of justice.
Meanwhile, the state’s Judicial Standards Committee also dismissed the challenge. The state’s judicial standards committee is comprised of attorneys as well as citizens who receive and evaluate complaints against sitting judges, and when appropriate, mete out disciplinary sanctions.
The challenge happened because Looney purchased the name of a former bail bond company, Bad Boy Bail Bonds, but didn’t purchase the business itself. However, several bonds issued under the name had been forfeited, and the two municipal judges — Colleen Herrington and Karolina Tierney, ordered Looney to pay the amount, $1,585, which he originally refused.
When Looney attempted to explain that the had purchased just the name and not the company or its book of business, the judges ordered that Bozeman municipal court not accept bail bonds from Bad Boy Bail Bonds, leading him to allege that he was losing tens of thousands of dollars. At one point, other counties began to follow suit. Even after Looney paid one of the bonds under protest, the judges continued to refuse bonds, at one point asking the state’s insurance commission to revoke Looney’s bonding authority.
Herrington is running unopposed for re-election to her municipal judge position. It’s a four-year term.
Attorney Matthew Monforton, who represented Looney and his business, said that the settlement will be paid by the city’s insurance carrier.
“Mr. Looney got justice, but only by fighting a long and costly battle against two of the state’s most vindictive and unfit judges,” Monforton said to the Daily Montanan. “Mr. Looney had to wage this battle on his own because the Legislature and the JSC refused to act against this egregious judicial abuse.”
