Montana Legal News

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

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.

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

Judge reverses sale of Montana oil and gas leases on public lands

Mon, 04 May 2020 07:00:00 GMT

Courthouse News Service

A federal judge in Montana ruled Friday that the Bureau of Land Management failed to fulfill its National Environmental Policy Act requirements when it issued 287 oil and gas leases in eastern Montana.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris’ ruling vacates the leases, which were issued in December 2017 and March 2018, and his ruling remands the leases back to the agency for further review.

The oil and gas leases were on 145,065 acres of public land in Montana near Livingston, the Stillwater River, the Tongue River Valley and one parcel that is next to the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.

Mine workers’ asbestos suit against insurer advanced by Montana high court

Fri, 27 Mar 2020 07:00:00 GMT

Courthouse News Service

The Montana Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a workers compensation insurer is liable for damage claims from people who worked at the W.R. Grace vermiculite plant in Libby, Montana.

Vermiculite is a silicate mineral that occurs naturally in asbestos-laden rock on Vermiculite Mountain near Libby. Thousands of W.R. Grace workers and their families since the 1960s have been injured or have died from lung disease related to working at or living near the W.R. Grace vermiculite mine, which closed in the 1990s.

Maryland Casualty Company provided Grace with workers compensation insurance coverage from 1963 to 1973.

Read the court's opinion at: https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/MarylandCasualtyAsbestos-MontSC.pdf

Montana court reverses $35 million child abuse verdict against Jehovah's Witnesses

Fri, 10 Jan 2020 07:00:00 GMT

NPR News

The Montana Supreme Court has reversed a $35 million judgment against Jehovah's Witnesses for failing to report child sexual abuse.

A lower court had found that the church illegally failed to report a child sexual abuser to authorities, which allowed him to continue sexually abusing another child.

The unanimous decision from seven state Supreme Court justices found that religious authorities are not always obligated to report child sexual abuse to authorities due to an exemption in Montana state law.

Montana to implement revised legal ethics rules in 2020

Tue, 31 Dec 2019 08:00:00 GMT

Bloomberg News

The start of 2020 will usher in a number of changes to Montana’s professional conduct rules as a result of the first comprehensive rules review in almost two decades.

The changes “were needed in light of 21st century developments in technology, business and law,” a Dec. 21 statement issued by the State Bar of Montana said.

The 18 revisions recommended by the bar and adopted by the Montana Supreme Court “are distinctly Montanan, while absorbing vetted ABA recommendations,” the statement said. They include amendments to the client confidentiality rule and the organization as a client rule, and address cannabis-related representation.

Montana Supreme Court to decide whether dinosaur fossils are minerals

Fri, 08 Nov 2019 08:00:00 GMT

Courthouse News Service

The Montana Supreme Court met en banc Thursday morning to decide once and for all whether or not dinosaur fossils are minerals.

The question emerged when a Tyrannosaurus rex was discovered in 2013 on Mary Ann and Lige Murray’s property in Garfield, Montana. Though the Murrays owned the surface of the land, they shared oil, gas, and coal rights with several other companies including BEJ Minerals, and the couple sued BEJ Minerals for complete ownership of the T. rex.

In 2016, U.S. District Judge Susan Watters, an Obama appointee, entered summary judgment in favor of the Murrays, declaring them “the sole owners of the dinosaur fossils found on the subject property.”

But the extraction companies appealed. In May, the Ninth Circuit called for the Montana Supreme Court to weigh in because no other controlling precedent existed in the Treasure State.

Ninth Circuit strikes down Montana ban on political robocalls

Wed, 11 Sep 2019 06:00:00 GMT

Courthouse News Service: "Montana can’t outlaw political robocalls, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, finding the state’s law violates the First Amendment, hamstrings underdog candidates and fails to protect recipients from financial scams."

Read the court's opinion at: http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/09/10/18-35163.pdf

Are dinosaur fossils 'minerals'? The Montana Supreme Court will decide high stakes case

Wed, 10 Jul 2019 06:00:00 GMT

Science: "Pristine dinosaur fossils discovered in Montana have sparked a property rights dispute that has hit paleontologists like an asteroid. The lawsuit, now at the Montana Supreme Court, concerns who owns some of the greatest fossil finds in the last century."

Mont.: New family treatment court a resource for reunification

Fri, 31 May 2019 07:00:00 GMT

Daily Inter Lake: "Last week, a long-awaited family treatment court officially opened its doors to Flathead County families impacted by dependency and neglect cases, offering support for program-eligible parents pursuing reunification with their children who have been placed into Child Family Services."

Court: Montana ethics complaints are public information

Thu, 30 May 2019 07:00:00 GMT

Helena Independent Record: "A federal appeals court on Wednesday struck down a Montana law requiring that any ethics complaint made against a state official be kept confidential, ruling that the law violated free-speech rights."

Read the court's opinion at: https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/TchidaMontana-9CA.pdf

Legal battle over fossil rights kicked back to Montana Supreme Court

Tue, 28 May 2019 08:00:00 GMT

KTVQ News: "The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is doing some digging to figure out who exactly owns fossils found buried in Montana. The long-standing dispute is between landowners and mineral estates in Garfield County, who are making competing claims for the rights to the valuable finds."

Montana Supreme Court overturns parental rights termination

Fri, 17 May 2019 07:00:00 GMT

KX News: "The state failed to make a reasonable effort to reunite a woman with the son who was taken away from her after he was born with methamphetamine in his system, the Montana Supreme Court ruled."

Read the court's opinion at: https://juddocumentservice.mt.gov/getDocByCTrackId?DocId=273432

Montana Supreme Court upholds 1882 right

Thu, 16 May 2019 07:00:00 GMT

Billings Gazette: "The Montana Supreme Court has upheld the oldest water right on Flatwillow Creek, dating back to 1882, according to an opinion filed on Tuesday."

Read the court's opinion at: https://juddocumentservice.mt.gov/getDocByCTrackId?DocId=273431

Mont.: Court delay leads to dismissal of aggravated assault charge

Thu, 09 May 2019 07:00:00 GMT

U.S. News: "The Montana Supreme Court has ordered a District Court in northwestern Montana to dismiss an aggravated assault charge against a state prison inmate who pleaded no contest to hitting a bicyclist with his car in May 2016."

Read the court's opinion at: https://juddocumentservice.mt.gov/getDocByCTrackId?DocId=272672

New Montana law ends statute of limitations on child sex abuse

Wed, 08 May 2019 07:00:00 GMT

Great Falls Tribune: "A bill to change Montana's child sexual abuse laws, including lifting the statute of limitations for prosecuting such crimes, was signed Tuesday by Gov. Steve Bullock."

Mont.: 'Riot' of miner's wives led to protection for officials, which Butte lawsuit may overturn

Tue, 07 May 2019 07:00:00 GMT

KPVI News: "If a former Butte woman wins her case against the Montana Board of Medical Examiners, she may reverse a judicial rule that was established when miners’ wives rioted against the Anaconda Company 73 years ago."

Mont.: New law clears up who owns fossils in state

Fri, 03 May 2019 07:00:00 GMT

Choteau Acantha: "Two Medicine Dinosaur Center researchers in Bynum are applauding Gov. Steve Bullock and the Legislature for clarifying Montana law that dinosaur fossils found on private property belong to the surface rights owners, not the mineral rights owners when there is a split estate."