Concurring opinion in travel ban case raises alarm over trial court judges' increasing use of nationwide injunctions 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. Read the story, "Justice Thomas Warns Against Power Grab by District Courts," by Brendan Kirby, PoliZette, June 27, 2018.
"Attorneys sue Montana after pay cut, unionization blocked," by Seaborn Larson, Great Falls Tribune, June 26, 2018 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. Read the entire story here.
Adam Ford, creator of the Christian satirical humor website Babylon Bee, himself tells the story of how Facebook treats the Bee. 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. Read the whole story, "When the Content Police Came for the Babylon Bee" (The satirical site's creator opens up on how Facebook tried to destroy his livelihood), by Adam Ford, The American Conservative, June 6, 2018.
Letter to the editor by Judge Gregory P. Mohr, Sidney Herald, May 19, 2018: I am writing this letter in support of Thomas R. Halvorson for county attorney. Irrigation Case - Concerns from Delay of Decision and Transcript of April 26, 2018 Hearing6/23/2018
Two factors are giving me uncomfortable causes for concern about the highly anticipated ruling on summary judgment in the Defenders of Wildlife lawsuit to terminate irrigation on the Lower Yellowstone and to attack the operations of Fort Peck Dam. First, two months have elapsed, and no decision has been announced. Second, I have read the 109 page transcript of the hearing verbatim. By request, I have given the Project Manager of Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project an analysis of my reading of the transcript. There are things going on in the transcript that could be what is taking so long for the decision to be announced. That is how the two factors combine to cause concern. Let me temper the concern by adding that there are bright spots in the transcript that ought to bode well for us. I am not publishing my analysis of the transcript at this time, but I am providing everyone a copy of the transcript at the link below. This gives everyone an opportunity to read it and make your own analysis. Here is the link to Transcript of Motion Hearing, Defenders of Wildlife v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U. S. District Court, Great Falls Division, Case No. CV 15-14-GF-BMM, April 26, 2018. ![]()
Ranch land in the proposed Horse Creek conservation easement near Glendive Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks "The state of Montana closed on a Glendive-area conservation easement Thursday, circumventing the state Board of Land Commissioners' decision to indefinitely delay action on the matter.
"Gov. Steve Bullock has concluded that the land board lacks authority over the easement, a decision that drew criticism from every other elected official who sits on the board." Read the rest of the story: "Bullock pushes through eastern Montana conservation easement without land board approval," by Tom Kuglin, Helena Independent Record, June 21, 2018. If a private school has "a code of conduct that limits sexual intimacy to acts between a man and a woman bound in marriage," then its law school graduates cannot be permitted to practice law.
That is according to the Supreme Court of Canada. See "Canadian Supreme Court Approves Discrimination Against Those Who Attended Christian College," by Brett Harvey, The Daily Signal, June 21, 2018. It was bound to happen some day. Someone would try to use Elvis Presley's song, "In the Ghetto," in a plea for leniency in criminal court. I didn't expect it to happen in Montana, but I was forgetting about Missoula. A sex trafficker's attorney said at his sentencing: “We have this poor kid who didn’t have a chance from the get-go,” Hoovestal said. Source: "Missoula man gets 30 years for trafficking several people, including minors, for sex," by Sam Wilson, Billings Gazette, June 21, 2018.
Leif Halvorson performs a demonstration during the Fort Union Rendezvous Williston Herald photo and caption by Renée Jean From "Fort Union Rendezvous: A little taste of the hard life. Area youths get to try their hand at various Fort Union occupations," by Renée Jean, Williston Herald, June 15, 2018. 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. Williams County has been ordered by a district court to refund $1.3 million in oil and gas lease revenues. According to the Williston Herald, June 20, 2018: 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. See the full article, "County will appeal ruling on mineral lease dispute," by Jamie Kelly, Williston Herald, June 20, 2018.
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