​Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas raised concerns Tuesday about the increasingly common use of nationwide injunctions issued by federal trial court judges to block laws and policies.

It has been a favorite tactic of liberal activist groups that fancy themselves part of the so-called resistance confronting President Donald Trump. If plaintiffs can get a U.S. District Court judge to grant an injunction and apply it nationwide, they can gum up Trump’s policies for months or longer — even if they ultimately lose the underlying case.

​Attorneys working overflow or conflict cases from the state public defender's office say that state officials violated a public contract when they unilaterally reduced rates for contractors, in a lawsuit filed in Lewis and Clark County District Court.

The suit, filed May 10 against Gov. Steve Bullock and Office of Public Defender Director Rhonda Schaffer, alleges a 10 percent reduction in pay for contract attorneys was a breach of those agreements and, while amid a state budget crisis, a cost-cutting measure not available to state officials.

I launched The Babylon Bee, a Christian-themed satirical news site. It blew up almost overnight, mostly due to its content going viral on Facebook. It became something of a Christian cultural phenomenon and quickly replaced comics as my full-time job. Yet our heavy reliance on Facebook always troubled me—and then on March 1 of this year, on the two-year anniversary of the Bee’s launch, Facebook struck again. This time, its left-leaning “fact checker” friend, Snopes, decided to judge an absurd, over-the-top, nonsensical, satirical story of ours about CNN putting news in a washing machine to “spin” it before publication as FAKE NEWS. Facebook took that big red judgment and used it to redirect our readers to Snopes’ page saying that we were intentionally spreading false information. Think of it! The story was so obviously satire—you can’t put news in a dang washing machine!—but the Snopes police arrested us, and the Facebook judge informed me that if it happened again our very popular page would be snuffed out and demonetized.

​I am writing this letter in support of Thomas R. Halvorson for county attorney. 

I have known Mr. Halvorson for over 30 years both as a defense attorney and a prosecutor. In both instances he always showed up on time and as scheduled. His work was done and the I’s were dotted and the t’s were crossed. There were never hedged bets and the cases were determined by the evidence. 

If he went to trial either as a defense attorney or prosecutor there was always an issue of law that needed to be determined. If I ruled against him in either situation, he would read the decision analyze it and either accept it or agree to disagree. 

During the Bakken boom there were marathon days in the courtroom beginning at 7 a.m. and if we were lucky we would be out as early as 7 p.m. but usually not that lucky. I remember one day in particular when I adjudicated over 70 cases. Mr. Halvorson showed up on schedule at 1 p.m. and I believe didn’t get out of the courtroom until 7 p.m. I still had clients in the courtroom and didn’t get out of the courtroom until almost 9 p.m. When I went to the parking lot, his pickup was still there.

During the boom all of the (big city attorneys) would try to bury the prosecution with as many motions as they could hoping for better results. This was time consuming on the prosecution. They didn’t think about the T.R. factor. He is the only man I know other than my uncle that raised me on the farm that can get 27 hours out of a 24 hour day. 

He has done more for Richland County than the citizens know and that is why I am supporting him for Richland County attorney. 
​

“We have this poor kid who didn’t have a chance from the get-go,” Hoovestal said.

He also suggested that the verdict for his client, who is African American, may have been different had it been held in Chicago and had the jury been more ethnically diverse. At one point, Hoovestal offered to play a recording of the Elvis Presley song “In the Ghetto” for the court, which Watters declined to hear.

Next door to the nail pounding demonstration was the fur trapper’s tent, where Sidney-area teacher Leif Halvorson explained, in character, what kind of job duties he had at Fort Union.
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Halvorson had set up a demonstration lean-to at his station, to show the children what the trappers and hunters might typically stay in when they’re out hunting in the bush.
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Halvorson had also set up a demonstration fire pit, with a small metal pot hanging over it, which he would later use to cook up a little broth for stew.
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All of the items Halvorson wore and displayed were authentic, period pieces. He didn't allow himself even so much as a modern toothbrush at his campsite, he told the children.
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Halvorson is a member of the American Mountain Men, a club that gets together once or twice a year for historically authentic mountain man camping.

In his decision, Northwest District Judge Benjamen Johnson wrote that because the county didn’t properly advertise a request for bids for mineral leases, the leases are void and the county must pay back the money it received in bonus payments.

Under state law, before any mineral lease on public land is issued, the entity that owns the land must advertise a request for bids. Williams County did not do so, and in the suit claimed that the land in question fell under an exemption in the law.

Johnson, however, disagreed.