Federal docket · On a public docket
Imperial Sovereign Court v. Knudsen
No. 2:23-cv-00050-BMM; appeal No. 23-3581 · Federal — District of Montana
Filed 2023; Ninth Circuit opinion March 13, 2026
What was published
Performers, teachers, businesses, and nonprofits sued to stop Montana House Bill 359 before it was enforced. The bill restricts what it calls drag story hours and sexually oriented performances, with criminal and civil penalties. Plaintiffs say the law violates the First Amendment and due process, on its face and as applied. Defendants are Attorney General Austin Knudsen and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, then Elsie Arntzen. Chief District Judge Brian M. Morris issued a preliminary injunction. The Ninth Circuit affirmed it on March 13, 2026. The opinion says the injunction bars the defendants from instituting, maintaining, or prosecuting enforcement proceedings under the bill.
Where it stands
A published appellate opinion, not a final judgment on the whole case. The injunction stands as of that opinion. Speech about gender presentation is treated, in this lawsuit, as political and expressive speech.
Does not establish
This is not a list of every plaintiff, and it is not a ruling that every performance is protected. Read the opinion before quoting a holding past the injunction. The people in the caption are litigants, not suspects.
Sources
- Ninth Circuit opinion, filed March 13, 2026CourtListener RECAP copy of the opinion
Imperial Sovereign Court of Montana v. Knudsen, No. 23-3581.









