Montana
State Supreme Court upholds landmark climate ruling that said emissions can’t be ignored
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by the state’s Republican governor to block a landmark climate ruling that said regulators must consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when issuing permits for fossil fuel development.
Justices, in a 5-2 Tuesday decision, declined the request from Gov. Greg Gianforte and three state agencies to block the August ruling from District Court Judge Kathy Seeley while an appeal by the state is pending before the high court. Seeley ruled a state law that prohibited agencies from considering the effect of emissions runs afoul of the state constitution’s requirement “to maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment.”
Seeley already rejected an earlier challenge by the state, saying it failed to identify flaws in her findings nor any irreparable harm if the ruling took effect.
The justices in the majority said Seeley “did not act arbitrarily” in rejecting the state’s motion. Two justices said they would have granted the request to stay the ruling.
The state high court ruling means Montana officials must “immediately comply” with Seeley’s order pending the appeal, said Mark Bellinger, an attorney for Our Children’s Trust, which represented the 16 young plaintiffs who brought the case.
Director Chris Dorrington of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality said in a Wednesday statement that he was disappointed in the court’s ruling but declined to say whether the agency would analyze the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when evaluating permit applications. He argued the agency should have been granted more time to respond to Seeley’s ruling.The agency is in the process of updating the Montana Environmental Policy Act, which has prohibited officials from analyzing greenhouse gas emissions since the law was revised by state lawmakers in 2023, in a move seen as benefiting a natural gas power plant being built by NorthWestern Energy.
Seeley said in her ruling it would be up to the Montana Legislature to determine how to bring the state’s policies into compliance — dimming the chances for prompt changes in a fossil fuel-friendly state where Republicans dominate the statehouse.
However, the ruling provides precedent for legal challenges.
The young plaintiffs in the climate case in November submitted a brief in support of a case filed by two environmental groups that are challenging the utility’s plant along the banks of the Yellowstone River near Laurel. They argued the plant’s air quality permit should be declared invalid or at least suspended until the state’s appeal of Seeley’s ruling is decided.
It’s unclear how long the appeal might take. The state’s opening brief is due by Feb. 13, pending any extensions that might be granted.
The young plaintiffs who challenged the state environmental policy testified they were already feeling the consequences of climate change, with smoke from worsening wildfires choking the air they breathe, along with decreased snowpack and drought drying rivers that sustain agriculture, fish, wildlife and recreation.
Attorneys for the state argued that the volume of greenhouse gasses released from Montana fossil fuel projects was insignificant compared to global emissions and reducing them would have no effect on the climate.
Carbon dioxide, which is released when fossil fuels are burned, traps heat in the atmosphere and is largely responsible for the warming of the climate.
The earth shattered a global heat record in 2023, the European climate agency said earlier this month.
The Department of Environmental Quality has created a work group to discuss potential changes to how it uses the Montana Environmental Policy Act, which requires public input in fossil fuel and mining development. Last year’s amendment by lawmakers forbid greenhouse gas emission analyses unless the federal government decided to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant. The work group’s first meeting is next Monday.
Minnesota
Man freed after 25 years in prison files suit over wrongful conviction
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who was freed last year after nearly 25 years in prison for the death of his wife is suing a former medical examiner and other authorities, accusing them of fabricating and withholding evidence, leading to a wrongful conviction.
Thomas Rhodes, 64, filed suit in federal court, naming former Ramsey County Medical Examiner Michael McGee and others, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday. McGee’s conduct has previously caused several convictions and sentences to be tossed out in the past two decades.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Rhodes was convicted of first- and second-degree murder in his wife’s death, which occurred during a boat ride on Green Lake in Spicer, Minnesota, in 1996. He was sentenced to life in prison. Last year, he became the first person freed from prison through Minnesota’s new conviction review unit.
The lawsuit alleges that McGee, along with now-deceased Kandiyohi County Attorney Boyd Beccue and a Hennepin County investigator, fabricated unsupported conclusions and provided false testimony to describe Jane Rhodes’ death as a premeditated homicide.
Jane Rhodes fell overboard in July 1996 while on a late-evening boat ride with her husband. The lawsuit said neither person was wearing a life jacket, and Jane Rhodes fell after losing her balance while leaning forward. Rhodes couldn’t locate his wife in the dark waters. Two fishermen found the body along the shore the next day.
Kandiyohi County’s coroner had limited experience assessing drowning victims, so McGee examined Jane Rhodes’ body. McGee and Beccue held what Rhodes’ attorneys called an improper private meeting used by the prosecution to “attempt to influence the determination as to the cause and manner of death.”
McGee eventually ruled that the death was a homicide. McGee and prosecutors said Rhodes struck his wife on the neck, pushed her overboard and ran over her body with the boat.
The Minnesota Conviction Review Unit was launched by Attorney General Keith Ellison in 2021. As part of its investigation, a forensic pathologist found that Jane Rhodes’ death was not inconsistent with an accidental fall, the office said.
A judge vacated Rhodes’ murder convictions in January 2023. The judge then accepted a plea to second-degree manslaughter. Rhodes was sentenced to four years in prison, and he got credit for time served, which led to his release.
Last year, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office said it would review more than 70 criminal convictions linked to McGee, who served as the county medical examiner from 1985 to 2019. He did not return phone calls seeking comment.
State Supreme Court upholds landmark climate ruling that said emissions can’t be ignored
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by the state’s Republican governor to block a landmark climate ruling that said regulators must consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when issuing permits for fossil fuel development.
Justices, in a 5-2 Tuesday decision, declined the request from Gov. Greg Gianforte and three state agencies to block the August ruling from District Court Judge Kathy Seeley while an appeal by the state is pending before the high court. Seeley ruled a state law that prohibited agencies from considering the effect of emissions runs afoul of the state constitution’s requirement “to maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment.”
Seeley already rejected an earlier challenge by the state, saying it failed to identify flaws in her findings nor any irreparable harm if the ruling took effect.
The justices in the majority said Seeley “did not act arbitrarily” in rejecting the state’s motion. Two justices said they would have granted the request to stay the ruling.
The state high court ruling means Montana officials must “immediately comply” with Seeley’s order pending the appeal, said Mark Bellinger, an attorney for Our Children’s Trust, which represented the 16 young plaintiffs who brought the case.
Director Chris Dorrington of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality said in a Wednesday statement that he was disappointed in the court’s ruling but declined to say whether the agency would analyze the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when evaluating permit applications. He argued the agency should have been granted more time to respond to Seeley’s ruling.The agency is in the process of updating the Montana Environmental Policy Act, which has prohibited officials from analyzing greenhouse gas emissions since the law was revised by state lawmakers in 2023, in a move seen as benefiting a natural gas power plant being built by NorthWestern Energy.
Seeley said in her ruling it would be up to the Montana Legislature to determine how to bring the state’s policies into compliance — dimming the chances for prompt changes in a fossil fuel-friendly state where Republicans dominate the statehouse.
However, the ruling provides precedent for legal challenges.
The young plaintiffs in the climate case in November submitted a brief in support of a case filed by two environmental groups that are challenging the utility’s plant along the banks of the Yellowstone River near Laurel. They argued the plant’s air quality permit should be declared invalid or at least suspended until the state’s appeal of Seeley’s ruling is decided.
It’s unclear how long the appeal might take. The state’s opening brief is due by Feb. 13, pending any extensions that might be granted.
The young plaintiffs who challenged the state environmental policy testified they were already feeling the consequences of climate change, with smoke from worsening wildfires choking the air they breathe, along with decreased snowpack and drought drying rivers that sustain agriculture, fish, wildlife and recreation.
Attorneys for the state argued that the volume of greenhouse gasses released from Montana fossil fuel projects was insignificant compared to global emissions and reducing them would have no effect on the climate.
Carbon dioxide, which is released when fossil fuels are burned, traps heat in the atmosphere and is largely responsible for the warming of the climate.
The earth shattered a global heat record in 2023, the European climate agency said earlier this month.
The Department of Environmental Quality has created a work group to discuss potential changes to how it uses the Montana Environmental Policy Act, which requires public input in fossil fuel and mining development. Last year’s amendment by lawmakers forbid greenhouse gas emission analyses unless the federal government decided to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant. The work group’s first meeting is next Monday.
Minnesota
Man freed after 25 years in prison files suit over wrongful conviction
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who was freed last year after nearly 25 years in prison for the death of his wife is suing a former medical examiner and other authorities, accusing them of fabricating and withholding evidence, leading to a wrongful conviction.
Thomas Rhodes, 64, filed suit in federal court, naming former Ramsey County Medical Examiner Michael McGee and others, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday. McGee’s conduct has previously caused several convictions and sentences to be tossed out in the past two decades.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Rhodes was convicted of first- and second-degree murder in his wife’s death, which occurred during a boat ride on Green Lake in Spicer, Minnesota, in 1996. He was sentenced to life in prison. Last year, he became the first person freed from prison through Minnesota’s new conviction review unit.
The lawsuit alleges that McGee, along with now-deceased Kandiyohi County Attorney Boyd Beccue and a Hennepin County investigator, fabricated unsupported conclusions and provided false testimony to describe Jane Rhodes’ death as a premeditated homicide.
Jane Rhodes fell overboard in July 1996 while on a late-evening boat ride with her husband. The lawsuit said neither person was wearing a life jacket, and Jane Rhodes fell after losing her balance while leaning forward. Rhodes couldn’t locate his wife in the dark waters. Two fishermen found the body along the shore the next day.
Kandiyohi County’s coroner had limited experience assessing drowning victims, so McGee examined Jane Rhodes’ body. McGee and Beccue held what Rhodes’ attorneys called an improper private meeting used by the prosecution to “attempt to influence the determination as to the cause and manner of death.”
McGee eventually ruled that the death was a homicide. McGee and prosecutors said Rhodes struck his wife on the neck, pushed her overboard and ran over her body with the boat.
The Minnesota Conviction Review Unit was launched by Attorney General Keith Ellison in 2021. As part of its investigation, a forensic pathologist found that Jane Rhodes’ death was not inconsistent with an accidental fall, the office said.
A judge vacated Rhodes’ murder convictions in January 2023. The judge then accepted a plea to second-degree manslaughter. Rhodes was sentenced to four years in prison, and he got credit for time served, which led to his release.
Last year, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office said it would review more than 70 criminal convictions linked to McGee, who served as the county medical examiner from 1985 to 2019. He did not return phone calls seeking comment.
