State to open new treatment centers

Filed under:NewsBits — posted by tc on August 30, 2007 @ 9:00 am

“We cannot afford to put everybody in jail in Montana for the rest of their lives because they are addicted,” [Gov. Schweitzer] said. But if we could afford it, lifetime incarceration for addicts would be a great idea!?

Billings Hiring Public Defenders

Filed under:NewsBits — posted by tc on @ 8:49 am

The Montana Office of State Public Defender is now advertising an open position in Billings for a public defender. If you’ve ever thought of leaving the ratrace wherever you are and heading for the Big Sky country, now’s your chance!

Public defender arrested for refusing to try case in 24 hours

Filed under:NewsBits — posted by tc on August 26, 2007 @ 8:25 pm

The order was given after the attorney said he was unprepared and unable to begin a scheduled trial, having only been appointed to represent a defendant the day before the trial was scheduled to begin.

Letters from prisoners

Filed under:NewsBits — posted by tc on @ 8:22 pm

We do know of lawyers who will work for no charge from you if you are indigent, they are called: PUBLIC DEFENDERS.

Locked Up in New Orleans

Filed under:NewsBits — posted by tc on August 25, 2007 @ 1:43 pm

New Orleans has the highest incarceration rate of any major US city–double the national rate. Louisiana also locks up more people in local jails than any state due in part to state laws, unheard of in other parts of the country, that paralyze due process.

Painkiller use rises swiftly in Montana

Filed under:NewsBits — posted by tc on @ 1:32 pm

Retail sales of ohycodone increased in Montana by nearly 688 percent from 1997 to 2005, according to an Associated Press analysis of statistics from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The national increase was 604 percent. ~

New Ninth Circuit Rule on Terry Stops for Misdemeanors, Grigg

Filed under:NewsBits — posted by tc on @ 8:46 am

Despite the Supreme Court’s decision in Hensley, being wanted for a misdemeanor is not necessarily grounds for a Terry stop.

Baldacci taps Gorman for law court – Boston.com

Filed under:NewsBits — posted by tc on August 14, 2007 @ 7:18 am

(ME) A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Maine School of Law, [Michaela] Murphy has worked as a public defender in Montana and as an assistant district attorney in Augusta.

Angry father in court takes 2 Taser jolts

Filed under:NewsBits — posted by tc on August 13, 2007 @ 8:44 am

When Fagg ordered that Wimber allow his daughter’s mother visitation with the 4-year-old, Wimber called out, “Bite me, your honor.”

BillingsGazette.com :: Public defender secretary fired

Filed under:NewsBits — posted by tc on @ 7:38 am

A secretary at the Office of the State Public Defender here was fired after supervisors learned that she helped a man charged with attempted murder call witnesses from the Missoula County jail, said Ed Sheehy, Missoula’s regional deputy public defender.


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image: detail of installation by Bronwyn Lace