Regional

S.D. Supreme Court holds public hearing on proposals including parent-time commission

Wed, 26 Aug 2020 07:00:00 GMT

KELO News

No one stepped forward Tuesday to speak against the South Dakota Supreme Court’s potential new rule establishing a statewide commission on noncustodial parenting time.

There also wasn’t any opposition to a proposal that would let state judges under certain circumstances, such as an election or a recall, issue public comments about their past decisions in response to criticism.

No one spoke for or against a proposal that would let judges and lawyers in certain circumstances alert potential victims or others, if a lawyer or law student in an otherwise confidential proceeding has expressed a desire to commit harm to her/himself or others.

S.D.: Specialty courts continue saving money and lives

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 07:00:00 GMT

KCCR News

An option that helps some people avoid prison time and saves the state money appears to be making progress.

South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson helped start drug courts, which are now used across the state.

Read more and access audio clips at: http://www.todayskccr.com/specialty-courts-continue-saving-money-and-lives/

University of South Dakota renames law school after receiving $12.5M donation

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 07:00:00 GMT

National Jurist

South Dakota’s only law school is getting a new name. The University of South Dakota will now be known as USD Knudson School of Law after the school received $12.5 million.

David Knudson, who the law school is named after, is a lawyer, businessman and politician in Sioux Falls. The $12.5 million donation came from T. Denny Sanford, a friend and colleague of Knudson. The school says the gift will ensure the law school remains a national leader in excellence, service and leadership.

"It's quite meaningful to see an investment of this size and to see the vision Mr. Sanford and Mr. Knudson have for securing the future of law in the state of South Dakota," said USD President Sheila Gestring.

S.D. justices take company’s side in a dispute with state’s underground storage tanks program

Mon, 17 Aug 2020 06:00:00 GMT

KELO News

A circuit judge in a financial case correctly ruled against state government’s program for cleaning up leaks from underground storage tanks, the South Dakota Supreme Court said.

In a decision released Thursday, the justices agreed then-Judge Patricia Devaney was right to dismiss state government’s claims against a company, BP plc, regarding pollution at 27 sites in South Dakota.

Devaney is now a Supreme Court justice. Circuit Judge Susan Sabers replaced her on the Supreme Court’s consideration of the appeal.

Read the court's opinion at: https://ujs.sd.gov/uploads/sc/opinions/28933c47174d.pdf

Montana Supreme Court rules Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue case closed

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 06:00:00 GMT

NBC Montana News

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of three mothers in the Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue case.

Attorneys said some speculated that the Montana Department of Revenue may try to persuade the Montana Supreme Court on other grounds.

However, The Montana Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the case is officially over.

Read the court's order at: https://juddocumentservice.mt.gov/getDocByCTrackId?DocId=324733

SD legislators direct justices to take another look at parenting time

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 06:00:00 GMT

KELO News

The South Dakota Supreme Court is considering whether to start a state commission on parenting-time guidelines.

The five justices plan a hearing Tuesday, August 25, starting at 9 a.m. CT, in the court’s chamber on the second floor of the state Capitol.

The proposal of a new commission comes after the Legislature passed HB 1140 last winter, telling the Supreme Court to develop a public hearing process to review the minimum standard guidelines and to recommend any changes.

Great Falls court officials hold Hollywood myths in contempt

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 06:00:00 GMT

Great Falls Tribune

Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson yelling at each other over the objections of another attorney and the judge in “A Few Good Men” might make for a dramatic movie scene (and a load of great memes), but it bears little resemblance to what goes on in a real-life courtroom.

Although Great Falls courtroom officials may watch their professions on TV for entertainment, they definitely don’t watch for the realism.

Here’s what a judge, a prosecutor and a defense attorney had to say about how their jobs are portrayed in Hollywood.

Former South Dakota Attorney General Meierhenry dies

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Sioux Falls Argus Leader

Mark Meierhenry, a former South Dakota attorney general and the patriarch of an influential legal family, died early Wednesday. He was 75.

Meierhenry was a 1970 graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Law. He went on to serve two terms as attorney general from 1979 to 1987, a timeframe that overlapped the first two terms of Gov. Bill Janklow’s tenure in office, who had preceded Meierhenry as attorney general.

During his eight years, Meierhenry argued six times before the U.S. Supreme Court, compiling a 3-3 record.

Minnesota Supreme Court rules in favor of employment protections for unpaid interns, students

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Bring Me The News

The Minnesota Supreme Court decided Wednesday that compensation is not required for an employee to be covered under the state’s civil rights laws.

The Supreme Court sided with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in the case Meagan Abel v. Abbott Northwestern Hospital and St. Mary’s University Minnesota.

The case stems from Abel’s practicum (a practical experience during a course of study) at Allina's Abbott Northwestern Hospital, which was part of her doctoral program at St. Mary’s University.

Read the court's opinion at: http://www.mncourts.gov/mncourtsgov/media/Appellate/Supreme%20Court/Standard%20Opinions/OPA190461-072920.pdf

Minn.: Court in the time of COVID

Wed, 22 Jul 2020 06:00:00 GMT

Brainerd Dispatch

When Crow Wing County Attorney Don Ryan assumed his elected post 26 years ago, he did not foresee a time when nearly all of his office’s court appearances would take place in the virtual realm.

For the past five months, however, the vast majority of court proceedings — those considered a high enough priority to not be suspended entirely — have occurred this way, with attorneys holed up in their offices and clients appearing from any number of locations, including in their vehicles while on lunch break.

Virtual court appearances are just one of the impacts on Minnesota’s court system born from the necessities of attempting to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus that rocked the globe this spring. Changes are underway to case scheduling and the physical setup of courtrooms and other public spaces in the judicial center to accommodate social distancing recommendations of both state and federal public health officials.

Minnesota might allow law grads to bypass bar exam

Mon, 29 Jun 2020 06:00:00 GMT

Law 360

The Minnesota Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it may allow recent law school graduates to forgo the bar exam during the COVID-19 health emergency and said it will take public comments on the idea over the next few weeks.

The move comes after a group of recent law graduates submitted a petition asking for the change. If it's adopted, Minnesota would become at least the third jurisdiction to allow graduates to skip the bar on a conditional basis, after Washington and Utah.

The petition asked the state high court to consider waiving the bar examination and grant diploma privilege for applicants to the Minnesota Bar already registered for the July, September and February bar exams who otherwise qualify for admission.

S.D.: Excellence in law and friendship

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 06:00:00 GMT

KELO News

Two longtime figures in the South Dakota law community are receiving a prestigious honor.

South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson and the late Justice Steven Zinter will both be the recipients of this year’s McKusick Award.

It’s named after the late Marshall McKusick, who dedicated decades of his life to the legal profession and the USD School of Law.

South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson only has months left in this office at the State Capitol.

Jensen picked to lead South Dakota supremes

Wed, 03 Jun 2020 07:33:00 GMT

Pierre Capital Journal

Upon the planned retirement of South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson in January, Justice Steven Jensen will take the role of leading the state's highest court, officials announced on Tuesday.

Jensen, a resident of Union County, became a circuit judge in 2003 and was appointed to the high court in 2017. Jensen grew up on a farm near Wakonda, South Dakota. He received his undergraduate degree from Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1985 and his Juris Doctor from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1988. He clerked for Justice Richard W. Sabers on the South Dakota Supreme Court before entering private law practice in 1989.

USD law school fell below bar-exam threshold

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 06:00:00 GMT

KELO News

South Dakota’s only law school was one of 10 nationwide that didn’t meet a key standard, set by a council of the American Bar Association, that 75 percent of an institution’s law graduates pass a bar exam within two years.

There are 203 schools accredited by the ABA. The University of South Dakota School of Law group for the 2017 academic year had 67 percent of its graduates pass the bar within two years, which was below national compliance.

Neil Fulton, USD law school dean since 2019, said Monday the ABA standard was adopted in 2019 and took immediate effect. He said the USD passage rate for the 2018 cohort was 79 percent, and for 2019 it was 86 percent.

S.D.: COVID-19 pandemic bogs down court system

Tue, 26 May 2020 06:00:00 GMT

Black Hills Pioneer

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the wheels of justice continue to turn in Lawrence County. They’re just going a bit slower than usual.

With defendants’ bond amounts lower than usual, longer than normal adjudication timeframes, suspension of the speedy trial act, and even an extended year-long service stint for seven current jury panels, those committing crimes will still have their day in court. It just may be later rather than sooner.

“The biggest difference is that, a lot of these people, when they’re supposed to appear in circuit court, are appearing through their lawyer by affidavit,” said Lawrence County State’s Attorney John Fitzgerald. “That was never allowed, prior to this pandemic, on felonies and then, the case is then being continued down the road. It’s not uncommon to get a continuance of a case for two months.”

Mont.: Court says dinosaur fossils worth millions aren't minerals

Tue, 26 May 2020 05:30:00 GMT

NBC Montana News

A divided Montana Supreme Court says under state law, dinosaur fossils aren't minerals. Wednesday's ruling has implications in an ongoing legal battle over the ownership of millions of dollars of fossils found on an eastern Montana ranch where the surface and mineral rights are owned by different people.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asked the state Supreme Court for a ruling on state law in the matter.

The court's decision will now inform the 9th Circuit as it decides who owns the fossils. The fossils include a T. rex, a triceratops skull and a pair of dinosaurs that appeared to have been locked in battle when they died.

Read the court's opinion at: https://appecm.mt.gov/PerceptiveJUDSupremeCourt/APP/connector/1/221/url/321Z45N_0PQF60V3N000006.pdf

Montana Supreme Court upholds jury decision in stolen valor case

Wed, 20 May 2020 06:00:00 GMT

Flathead Beacon

The Montana Supreme Court has upheld the decision of a Flathead County jury to force a Kalispell man to pay $1.7 million after he said he was a decorated U.S. Marine Corps officer in order to convince a well-known Whitefish businessman to invest in his business.

The high court’s April 28 opinion brings to a close an at-times bizarre legal drama.

Don Kaltschmidt, owner of the Don “K” auto dealership in Whitefish and chairman of the Montana Republican Party, filed a lawsuit against Laron D. Shannon in 2014 after learning that the man had lied about his military service.

Read the court's opinion at: https://appecm.mt.gov/PerceptiveJUDDocket/APP/connector/1/378/url/321Z44W_0P64JWYHF00002C.pdf

USD Law School among first to be back with face-to-face education this fall

Tue, 19 May 2020 06:00:00 GMT

KELO News

The South Dakota Board of Regents has decided that universities will resume in-person classes at the start of the fall term.

Among the first to start is the Law School at USD, which normally begins in the first week in August.

Law School Dean Neil Fulton says it won’t be classes as usual.

Court upholds move to restore Minnesota lake's Dakota name

Fri, 15 May 2020 06:30:00 GMT

Indian Country Today

A divided Minnesota Supreme Court said Wednesday a state agency has the authority to change the name of a popular lake back to its original Dakota name.

The state Court of Appeals ruled in April that the Department of Natural Resources overstepped its authority in January 2018 when it restored the name Bde Maka Ska. It said authority to change the name of Lake Calhoun rested with the Legislature under statutes governing lake and other place names.

Justice David Lillehaug, writing for the majority of five justices, said the Department of Natural Resources commissioner has the statutory authority to change the name.

Read the court's opinion at: http://mncourts.gov/mncourtsgov/media/Appellate/Supreme%20Court/Standard%20Opinions/OPA181007-051320.pdf

Billionaires stashing funds in South Dakota trusts

Mon, 11 May 2020 06:00:00 GMT

Pierre Capital Journal

South Dakota’s unusual stature as a leader nationwide in chartering trusts has been in the national headlines in recent weeks because of a new turn in a Texas billionaire’s messy divorce.

CNBC said this week: “South Dakota is fast becoming a mini-Switzerland for the world’s rich.”

“Analysts and local politicians estimate that $250 billion to $900 billion is now stashed in South Dakota trusts by the likes of Chinese billionaires looking to keep their fortunes out of reach of the government, Europeans looking to avoid taxes and Americans looking to shield wealth from spouses,” the network added.