Justia Montana Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court ruling in favor of Plaintiffs on cross-motions for summary judgment and enjoining the Montana Secretary of State from placing House Bill (HB) 325 on Montana's 2022 general election ballot, holding that the referendum proposal violates the Montana Constitution.If approved, HB 325 will establish seven Supreme Court districts in Montana and requires that Supreme Court justices be elected district by district, rather than statewide. Plaintiffs brought this challenge to the constitutionality of the measure. The district court granted summary judgment for Plaintiffs. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not err in determining that the question of the constitutionality of the referendum proposed by HB 325 is ripe for judicial resolution; and (2) the district court did not err in enjoining the Secretary from placing HB 325 on the ballot in the 2022 general election. View "McDonald v. Jacobsen" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Appellant of incest for the sexual abuse of T.N. and sentencing her to 100 years in prison, holding that there was no error or abuse of proceedings in the proceedings below.Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) the district court did not violate Defendant's "right to access witnesses" in denying her motion to to conduct pretrial interviews with T.N. and J.M.; (2) the State's failure to lodge with the district court forensic interviews from a different case did not violate Defendant's right to a fair trial, and Defendant was not entitled to a new trial on this ground; and (3) based on the totality of the evidence, this Court declines to employ the doctrine of plain error to review Defendant's claim that the district court should have given a specific unanimity instruction. View "State v. Mathis" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's grant of a preliminary injunction temporarily enjoining the implementation of three laws the Legislature enacted in 2021 that regulate or restrict abortion services, holding that there was no error of law or manifest abuse of discretion.In 2021, the Montana Legislature passed into law and the governor signed into law bills regulating or restricting abortions services and providing for various criminal penalties and civil remedies. The district court granted a preliminary injunction, finding that Plaintiffs made a prima facie showing that the challenged laws violated their rights under the Montana Constitution and determining that Plaintiffs would suffer irreparable injury if the challenged laws took effect. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that either ground on which the district court granted a preliminary injunction would have been sufficient to justify relief. View "Planned Parenthood of Montana v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the orders entered by the Fourth and Eighteenth Judicial District Courts denying their requests for preliminary injunctions to enjoin the masking requirements of Defendants, school districts in Missoula and Gallatin Counties, that were adopted in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, holding that the district courts did not err.Plaintiffs filed complaints and motions for preliminary injunctions shortly after Defendants' adoption of the masking policies for the 2021-2022 school year, seeking to enjoin the masking requirements based upon constitutional privacy, individual dignity, and parental rights. Both district courts denied the motions. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district courts did not manifestly abuse their discretion by denying the preliminary injunctions. View "Stand Up Montana v. Missoula County Public Schools" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the order of the district court granting summary judgment to Thomas Mann Post No. 81 of the American Legion, department of Montana (Legion) and denying Knudsen Family Limited Partnership's (KFLP) motion for summary judgment against the Town of Culbertson, holding that to the extent the court ostensibly expanded the scope of an easement the ruling was reversed.This action stemmed from a property dispute as to whether Legion had an easement across KFLP's ranch property to access Legion Park in Culbertson. The Supreme Court reversed the district court's judgment in part, holding (1) to the extent the district court ostensibly expanded a 1913 written easement by granting summary judgment against KFLP on the Town's complaint, this was in error; (2) the district court did not err in ruling that Legion had an implied easement by preexisting use; and (3) the district court erred in awarding attorney fees without holding an evidentiary hearing on the reasonableness of the award. View "Thomas Mann Post v. Knudsen Family Ltd. Partnership" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court vacating an interim award and final award issued by the arbitrator and requiring the parties to resubmit their dispute to arbitration before a new arbitrator, holding that the district court erred.M.K. Weeden Construction, Inc. and Simbeck and Associates, Inc. entered into a subcontract for Simbell to install a geosynthetic lining system on the slopes of a new embankment on a tailings storage facility at a mine near Nye, Montana. After Weeden terminated the subcontract by invoking the subcontract's default provision Simbeck filed a demand for arbitration. The arbitrator first issued an interim award awarding Simbeck damages and then a final award awarding Simbeck attorney fees. The district court granted Weeden's motion to vacate the award and ordered the parties again to submit the dispute to arbitration before a new arbitrator, ruling that the arbitrator exceeded his authority by issuing the interim award. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the interim award was a proper "reasoned award" and the district court abused its discretion by vacating it; and (2) Simbeck was entitled to attorney fees incurred in defense of the arbitration award. View "M.K. Weeden Construction, Inc. v. Simbeck & Assocs., Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the class certification order entered by the district court against Lewis and Clark County related to the County's practice of conducting strip searches of detainees arrested for non-felony offenses, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion.Plaintiffs alleged that they were each arrested for a misdemeanor or traffic offenses and that each of them were subjected to a strip search as part of the booking process at the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center without reasonable suspicion to believe they were concealing a weapon or contraband. The district court granted Plaintiffs' motion to certify a class and defined the class to focus on the County’s “policy or practice of conducting strip searches or visual body cavity searches of detainees who may be placed into general custody.” The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not certify an overly broad class and did not abuse its discretion by certifying the class action lawsuit. View "Rogers v. Lewis & Clark County" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of deliberate homicide and attempted deliberate homicide, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion for new counsel.Defendant was convicted of murdering his estranged wife and attempting to murder her roommate. The district court imposed a 100-year sentence for each count, to run consecutively, and imposed a ten-year consecutive weapon enhancement for each offense. On appeal, Defendant argued that the district court abused its discretion when it concluded that Defendant's complaints regarding his counsel did not warrant a hearing on his motion to substitute counsel. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Defendant's request to substitute counsel. View "State v. Dewise" on Justia Law

In this insurance dispute, the Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court granting Homeowners' cross-motion for partial summary judgment and denying Employer's Mutual Casualty Company's (EMC) motion for summary judgment, holding that the district court erred in concluding that a certain exclusion in the relevant policy precluded coverage for Homeowners' potential liability in the underlying lawsuits.EMC, who was defending Insureds in the underlying lawsuits, filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration that, pursuant to the policy's "Earth Movement Exclusion," there was no coverage for Homeowners' claims against Insured. Homeowners then initiated a declaratory judgment action seeking a ruling that EMC was obligated to indemnify Insureds for Homeowners' claims under the applicable policy limits. The district court concluded that EMC had a duty to provide coverage for Homeowners' claims. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the district court erred in concluding that coverage existed under the policy. View "Loendorf v. Employers Mutual Casualty Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment to ERA Advantage Realty, Inc. and dismissing Jodie Young's complaint alleging that Advantage's brokers were negligent in failing to disclose certain issues when she was buying her home, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion.In her complaint, Young alleged negligence because Advantage's brokers failed to disclose that local zoning ordinances preluded her from enclosing her yard with a fence and constructive fraud for failure to disclose a mold problem in her basement. The district court granted summary judgment to Advantage, holding that Young could not sustain her claims because she failed to submit notice of a real estate expert who could establish the standard of care applicable to real estate agents. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Young's duty-based claims failed as a matter of law and that this conclusion was dispositive. View "Young v. Era Advantage Realty" on Justia Law