Montana

9th Circuit Committee Appointed to Investigate Ethics Complaints over Judge’s Racist Email

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has appointed a committee to investigate ethics complaints about a federal judge who admitted he sent an email with a racist joke about President Obama. Kozinski appointed the five-member committee on March 23 to investigate the…

Apr 6, 2012 4:13 PM CDT

‘Three Cups of Tea’ Author Agrees to Repay His Charity More than $1M

The author of the book Three Cups of Tea has agreed to repay the charity he co-founded more than $1 million in a settlement with the Montana attorney general. An investigation of Greg Mortenson found problems in the management of his charity, the Central Asia Institute, according to a report…

Apr 6, 2012 1:43 PM CDT

Supreme Court Stays Montana Campaign Ruling; Ginsburg Sees Opportunity to Revisit Citizens United

A controversial Montana ruling that distinguished Citizens United and upheld corporate campaign restrictions in the state could give the U.S. Supreme Court an opportunity to revisit the issue, according to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The U.S. Supreme Court stayed the Montana ruling on Friday pending action on an upcoming cert…

Feb 21, 2012 1:16 PM CST

Former Montana Municipal Judge Takes Plea in Federal Bribery Case

A former municipal judge for Butte and Silverbow County, Montana, has taken a plea in a bribery case. Steven J. Kambich, 53, who has been on the bench there since 2004, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Missoula to a single county of bribery. It concerned $13,000 in payments…

Jan 13, 2012 11:14 PM CST

Critic Calls Montana Ruling on Corporate Campaign Contributions an ‘Act of Defiance’

The Montana Supreme Court has ruled the controversial Supreme Court decision Citizens United doesn’t require it to overturn a state law that bars corporations from making independent campaign expenditures for or against candidates. The Montana high court cited several reasons why the law survived a First Amendment challenge, report the…

Jan 4, 2012 7:53 PM CST

Lawyer Wants Montana Sex Offenders to Know: I’m Not the Person Writing You Critical Letters

A Montana lawyer thinks someone with a personal vendetta against her is responsible for letters being sent to registered sex offenders that contain her home address and phone number. The letters criticizing the sex offenders bear the signature of workers compensation lawyer Leslae Dalpiaz, report NBC Montana and the Missoulian.…

Dec 8, 2011 4:06 PM CST

Supreme Court Case Could Affect Control of Nation’s Riverbeds

A U.S. Supreme Court case on the ownership of land below three Montana rivers could affect control of riverbeds throughout the country. Montana asserts it owns the land and it is entitled to rent from a company that operates hydroelectric dams along the rivers, the Washington Post reports. The Supreme…

Nov 30, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Man Gets 8 Years for Setting Fire to Montana Law Office

A man who said he had been hired by a lawyer’s wife to kill her husband but couldn’t bring himself to do it and instead torched the attorney’s Montana law office has been sentenced. Frank Wayne Campbell, 43, was given eight years and four months by a federal court in…

Nov 10, 2011 11:39 PM CST

Lawyer Sued Over Shooting by Elderly Client; Complaint Alleges He Should Have Warned Authorities

A Florida lawyer has been named as a defendant in a personal injury lawsuit seeking damages over a shooting in another state by an elderly client. Attorney David Gilmore should have anticipated that his client, Thomas Kyros, 81, posed a danger to Georgia Smith and her young adult daughter, Promethea…

Oct 18, 2011 6:21 PM CDT

Law Clerk Sues Judge for Assault, Says He Slapped Her with a Legal File

A female law clerk who is also an attorney has filed suit against the Fergus County, Mont., judge for whom she works, seeking compensatory and punitive damages for assault. Britt T. Long says in the Fergus County District Court suit that she took an unpaid medical leave after District Court…

Sep 23, 2011 12:58 AM CDT

Longtime U of Montana Law Prof Denied Emeritus Status Decries ‘Petty’ and ‘Inexplicable’ Decision

A conservative constitutional scholar who formerly taught at the University of Montana for 23 years has been denied emeritus status in a faculty vote. Rob Natelson, who retired in May 2010 as a tenured faculty member to join the Independence Institute, said he was disappointed by the “petty” and “inexplicable”…

Jun 16, 2011 10:57 PM CDT

Montana AG to Probe Charity Portrayed in ‘Three Cups of Tea’

The charity portrayed in the book Three Cups of Tea is under investigation after a 60 Minutes report alleged its founder, Greg Mortenson, exaggerated his achievements and used charity money to promote his books. Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock says news reports have spurred him to investigate Mortenson’s charity, the…

Apr 20, 2011 11:29 AM CDT

Montana High Court OKs Workers Comp for Pot-Smoking Park Worker Mauled While Feeding Bears

A man who was mauled while feeding the bears for his employer may collect workers compensation even though he smoked pot beforehand, according to the Montana Supreme Court. The court ruled on behalf of Brock Hopkins, finding that he was an employee of Great Bear Adventures and his pot use…

Mar 28, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

One Day After Mont. Judge Orders Woman to Have Hysterectomy for Cancer, Top Court Calls a Halt

Under legal standards for informed consent, an adult who is mentally competent generally has a constitutional right to refuse medical treatment, even treatment that would be life-saving. But after being told by a psychiatrist and a doctor that an unidentified woman’s “religious delusions” interfered with her ability to understand the…

Mar 7, 2011 6:11 PM CST

9th Circuit Says Law Firm Must Pay $311K to Man From Whom It Sought to Collect Less Than $10K

Corrected: An attorney representing a Montana consumer was jubilant today over news that a $311,000 verdict for his client, who was initially pro se in a collection case brought by a law firm over an old credit card debt of less than $5,000, had been upheld by a federal appeals…

Mar 5, 2011 12:42 AM CST