Justice
Congressional Black Caucus meets with Biden to push for police accountability
WASHINGTON — The Congressional Black Caucus met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris Thursday evening to urge the administration to use its executive power for law enforcement reform, following criminal charges for police officers in the killing of a Black man in Memphis, Tennessee. “My hope is this dark memory spurs some […]
Montana lawmakers may move court administration away from Supreme Court
The Montana Senate Judiciary Committee heard a bill, Senate Bill 230, that would appear to make a minor organizational tweak that opponents said will have a huge effect on how the state’s courts would run. Sen. John Fuller, R-Kalispell, is proposing to move the administrator of the courts, currently supervised by the chief justice and […]
State, Powell County investigating suspected homicide at Montana State Prison
Montana Department of Corrections and Powell County officials are investigating a suspected inmate homicide at the Montana State Prison, a Montana Department of Corrections news release said Monday. Todd C. Fisher, 49, was pronounced dead on Sunday. He had been incarcerated since 2019 after being convicted in Dawson County for deliberate homicide and tampering with […]
Colorado considers changing its ‘red-flag’ law after nightclub shooting
A Nov. 19 shooting that killed five people and wounded 19 at a Colorado Springs nightclub has officials considering changes to strengthen Colorado’s red flag law, particularly in self-declared “Second Amendment sanctuaries,” where emergency petitions to remove a person’s guns are filed less frequently and usually denied. The three-year-old state law allows law enforcement officials […]
ACLU asks Yellowstone County judge to hold state in contempt for failing to comply with court order
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a motion in Yellowstone County District Court to hold the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services and Gov. Greg Gianforte in contempt for refusing to follow what it says are two court orders to change its policy for amending gender designations on birth certificates. It has […]
Bill aims to put federal injunction thresholds in place in Montana
Democratic senators wondered Tuesday if a bill would give the state government “immunity” from a district court judge’s restraining order if the state was not immediately notified it had been sued. A portion of Senate Bill 191 contains language saying such an order may be granted without notice if “the state or state’s departments, agencies, […]
Classified material found in the Indiana home of former VP Mike Pence
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence is the latest top public official to have been discovered possessing classified material in his personal home, according to a letter his lawyer sent to the National Archives. A dozen documents with classified markings were discovered in Pence’s residence in Carmel, Indiana, in mid-January. The former vice president […]
White House says DOJ had ‘unprecedented access’ to Biden home during search
WASHINGTON — Department of Justice officials had “unprecedented access” to every room in President Joe Biden’s Delaware home Friday during a search that followed several days of disclosures that classified material from the Obama era had been found in Biden’s garage and think tank office, White House officials said Monday. The historic 13-hour search of […]
Federal lawsuit claims insurance company deliberately stalling in Libby asbestos cases
Just weeks after a Cascade County judge agreed with a jury that the insurance company that represented a Libby asbestos mine should pay a former miner there $36.5 million, attorneys for that miner filed a complaint in federal court, claiming that Zurich American Insurance Company systematically stalled and dragged out court proceedings in an attempt […]
Days after Indiana attack, White House vows to fight hate against Asian Americans
WASHINGTON— The White House on Tuesday announced a multi-agency strategy to help combat anti-Asian American hate, promote language access and improve governmental data collection for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community. “This unprecedented plan builds on the administration’s broader equity agenda,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during Tuesday’s press briefing. Pew Research Center […]
Bill would have courts consider abuse, adultery in Montana divorce proceedings
A bill that would have Montana courts take into consideration adultery or physical abuse when considering division of property during a couple’s divorce could harm abuse victims and cost them even more in attorney’s fees, a prosecutor and family law attorneys said Friday. “This bill is giving abusive partners a legal tool to use allegations […]
Lawyers question if bill on Montana privacy rights and abortions is constitutional
Montana taxpayers might again be on the hook to pay for the state to defend a law that is unconstitutional, according to opponents of a bill that aims to declare that the right to an abortion should not be covered as a privacy right under the state Constitution. Senate Bill 154, sponsored by Sen. Keith […]