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Justice Thomas Warns Against Power Grab by District Courts

6/28/2018

 
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​​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.

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.
Read the story, "Justice Thomas Warns Against Power Grab by District Courts," by Brendan Kirby, PoliZette, June 27, 2018.

Montana's contract public defenders sue over unilateral hourly rate decrease

6/27/2018

 
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​"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.

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.
​Read the entire story here.

Facebook does not get Christian satirical humor, turns Babylon Bee over to Snopes

6/26/2018

 
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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.

Judge Gregory P. Mohr's endorsement of Tom Halvorson

6/23/2018

 
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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. 

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. 
​

Irrigation Case - Concerns from Delay of Decision and Transcript of April 26, 2018 Hearing

6/23/2018

 
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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.
04-26-2018-dow-v-usace.pdf
File Size: 532 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Bullock pushes through eastern Montana conservation easement without land board approval

6/23/2018

 
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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.

Believing in marriage can disqualify you from practicing law

6/22/2018

 
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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.

Sex trafficker's attorney offers to play Elvis Presley song at sentencing hearing

6/21/2018

 
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​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.

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.
​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

6/21/2018

 
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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.
...
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.
...
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.
...
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.
...
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.
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Williams County might have made a royal legal error in leasing its minerals

6/20/2018

 
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​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.

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.
​​See the full article, "County will appeal ruling on mineral lease dispute," by Jamie Kelly, Williston Herald, June 20, 2018.
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