8th Circuit Upholds Dismissal of False Imprisonment Action by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendants on a false imprisonment claim. On January 2, 1983, James Buckley was murdered in St. Louis, Missouri. Ellen Maria Reasonover came forward as a witness …
Montana Prisoners Entitled to Review Parole Files by Several Montana state prisoners sued the state board of pardons and parole (Board) in state court to compel disclosure of their parole files. The trial court dismissed, and the prisoners appealed. On appeal, the Montana Supreme Court found that there were no …
Montana DOC Must Have Open Meetings On Proposals for Construction of New Prison by The Great Falls Tribune, a Montana newspaper, sued the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to compel it to conduct open negotiations regarding the construction of a new prison. The trial court held that the DOC didn't …
Montana Guards' Disciplinary Sanctions and Names Held Disclosable by Several guards at the Montana State Prison were disciplined for their behavior during a riot in which several prisoners in protective custody were killed. Numerous newspapers' requests for a copy of the report outlining the guards' discipline was granted, but the …
Montana Newspaper Entitled to Fees Incurred to Obtain Copies of Documents by The Havre Daily News (newspaper), a Montana subchapter of a Washington corporation, sued the city of Havre, Montana in state court under Mont. Const. art. II § 9 to compel disclosure of an unredacted incident report. During litigation …
My Space Becomes “No Space” for Online Sex Offenders by David Reutter My Space Becomes "No Space" for Online Sex Offenders by David M. Reutter After online social networking giant MySpace.com, under pressure, disclosed on July 24, 2007 that it had purged 29,000 sex offender profiles from its website, state …
Chinese Citizen's Misdemeanor Assault Does Not Justify Removal Under Crime of Violence; Entitled to Fees Under EAJA by China native and permanent U.S. resident Hua Fang's misdemeanor assault in Montana led a U.S. Immigration Judge (IJ) to order his deportation. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed the order without …
Female Montana Prisoner Attacked by Male Prisoner Paid $30,000 by A female Montana prisoner who was attacked by a male prisoner during a prison altercation was paid $30,000. Ms. Perez, a female Montana prisoner, was attacked by a male prisoner during a prison altercation. She suffered facial contusions and emotional …
Escape From TransCor Van Not a Crime in Montana by On January 11, 2006, a Montana state district court set aside two prisoners, convictions for escape and acquitted them after holding that no evidence had been presented that they were in the custody of a peace officer, a requirement for …
Escape From TransCor Van Not a Crime in Montana by On January 11, 2006, a Montana state district court set aside two prisoners' convictions for escape and acquitted them after holding that no evidence had been presented that they were in the custody of a peace officer, a requirement for …
Ninth Circuit Invalidates Sexually Explicit Photograph/Publication Ban by In 1982, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Montana prison rule prohibiting nude photographs was too broad and that less restrictive alternatives existed. The court also held that a ban on sexually explicit magazines such as Hustler violated the …
Ninth Circuit Assesses Double Costs, Fees, and Damages Against Montana Prison Officials by Following remand in Pepperling v. Crist, 678 F.2d 787 (9th Cir. 1982), Montana prison officials appealed the Ninth Circuit's nude photograph ruling. The appeal was dismissed "because it is frivolous and brought in bad faith to vex, …
Mandatory Language in Montana Parole Statute Creates Liberty Interest by The U.S. Supreme Court held that mandatory language in Montana's parole statutes created a liberty interest in parole. State prisoners who had been denied parole brought a class action § 1983 lawsuit against the State Board of Pardons and its …
Montana Parole Statute Creates Liberty Interest by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Montana's parole statute created a liberty interest in parole. State prisoners who had been denied parole brought a class action § 1983 lawsuit against the State Board of Pardons and its Chair …
Montana Supreme Court Upholds Jury Verdict in Death Action by In this case involving an escaped teenage prisoner who shot and killed another boy, the Montana Supreme Court upheld a jury's verdict in favor of the state. Originally committed to the Pine Hills youth prison as a serious juvenile offender, …
Montana Supreme Court Upholds State's Sex Offender Registration Act by The Montana Supreme Court held that the state's sex offender registration act could be applied retroactively and did not violate an offender's rights under the state or federal constitutions. In 1989 Montana enacted the Sexual Offender Registration Act, which required …
Parole Review Challenge Cognizable under Federal Habeas Statute by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that federal habeas corpus is a proper remedy for prisoner seeking only equitable relief and challenging aspects of their parole review of that... could potentially affect the duration of their confinement. Montana prisoner Leland …
Montana S.Ct. Rules on Attorney Malpractice by The Montana Supreme Court held that a prisoner had adequately pleaded malpractice by his attorney when the lawyer he hired while imprisoned in Idaho purported to represent him in a Montana criminal case and entered a guilty plea on his behalf. The prisoner …
Montana Juvenile Prisoners' Files Disclosable for Purposes of Litigation by The plaintiffs were 16 Montana state juvenile prisoners. For litigation purposes, their lawyer requested from the Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility (P.H.Y.C.C.) certain of the plaintiffs' personal records, including those regarding the use of pepper spray on the plaintiffs. P.H.Y.C.C. …
Federal DNA Sample Parole Condition Upheld by A supervised release condition requiring the defendant to "cooperate in the collection of DNA as directed by the U.S. probation officer" does not violate the Fourth Amendment and is not unconstitutionally vague, given the extensive rules and restrictions that govern the collection and …
