A Whitefish TEA Party Republican is arguing that laws against domestic violence are unconstitutional.  This is because they discriminate against heterosexuals, Tim Baldwin says.  Baldwin, who hopes to replace Derek Skees in the race for Whitefish’s House District 4, made this argument in court today as the attorney for a man charged with domestic violence.

As the Whitefish Pilot report, Baldwin said,

“The state can no more discriminate against the heterosexual class of persons than it can discriminate against the homosexual class of persons similarly situated,” Baldwin wrote. “Were the [Partner and Family Member Assault laws] to enhance penalties only against homosexual partners, it would be facilely unconstitutional…”

Based on this argument, the Lincoln County justice court judge dismissed the domestic violence charge.  The state of Montana has appealed.

Baldwin and his father Chuck Baldwin are featured in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s recent Intelligence Report, which focuses on the recent uptick in extremist activity in Kalispell and the Flathead. In the article “A Gathering of Eagles: Extremists Look to Montana” the SPLC details the activities of the various far-right movements and their leaders, including Chuck and Tim Baldwin.

Tim Baldwin took issue with the report on the TEA Party blog PolyMontana, saying that he is not a racist:

“Some of my closest friends are of African descent. The same can be said of Chuck Baldwin.”

A local Republican penned an opinion piece about some of the problems with Baldwin in today’s Bigfork Eagle. The author writes that he doesn’t find Tim Baldwin to have “a moral compass or common sense. This makes his Republican status irrelevant, and I hope it makes him unelectable.”

Baldwin is running against Vietnam War veteran and forestry consultant Ed Lieser.