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(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. 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. 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. 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.

Persons: HELENA, —, Greg Gianforte, Kathy Seeley, Seeley, Seeley “, “, Mark Bellinger, Chris Dorrington, “ We’re, ” Dorrington Organizations: Republican, Gov, Montana Department of Environmental, Energy, Montana Legislature, Republicans, Environmental Locations: Mont, Montana, Yellowstone, Laurel

☆ Montana Judge Says TikTok Ban Likely Violates First Amendment
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Meghan Bobrowsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The legality of Montana’s TikTok ban will be decided later in a bench trial that has yet to be scheduled. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg NewsTikTok won a reprieve in Montana after a judge ruled a state law banning the app can’t go into effect in January, saying it “likely violates the First Amendment.”A federal judge on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction blocking the law, which was passed by the Montana legislature earlier this year, pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the social-media company. The legality of the ban itself will be decided later in a bench trial that has yet to be scheduled.

Persons: Montana’s, Andrew Harrer, TikTok, “ Organizations: Bloomberg Locations: Montana

☆ Montana Judge Says TikTok Ban ‘Likely Violates First Amendment’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Meghan Bobrowsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Persons: Montana’s, Andrew Harrer, TikTok, “ Organizations: Bloomberg Locations: Montana

(AP) — A group of people, organizations and businesses opposed to a law that restricts drag performances and bans drag reading events at public schools and libraries asked a federal judge to declare Montana's law unconstitutional without requiring a trial. Political Cartoons View All 1270 ImagesThe plaintiffs argue that the law is an unconstitutional content- and viewpoint-based restriction on speech. Plaintiffs have modified or canceled events, as well, in order not to violate the law, court records state. The state argues the law is meant to protect children from “indecent and inappropriate conduct” that is harmful to them. Montana law already protects minors from exposure to obscenities.

Persons: HELENA, Brian Morris, ”, ” Morris, Greg Gianforte, Montana, haven't Organizations: Seven Law, U.S, Republican, Republican Gov, Public, Montana Pride Locations: Mont, Montana, Bow, Helena

Political Cartoons View All 1230 ImagesThe Montana State Hospital violates those laws and its patients' constitutional rights to dignity and due process, the lawsuit states. DiMauro, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2012, was admitted to the Montana State Hospital in September 2020. Staff also failed to treat a wound on his forehead that he suffered in a fall, the lawsuit states. Patzoldt, then 75, was admitted to the Montana State Hospital on Oct. 19, 2021, after having behavioral disruptions at a memory care center. A review of his records found his heart medication was not given to him for nearly three weeks in November 2021, the lawsuit states.

Persons: HELENA, Lucio DiMauro, David Patzoldt, Lesley Jungers, Greg Gianforte, Patzoldt, cellulitis Organizations: —, Montana State Hospital, Department of Public Health, Human Services, The Montana State Hospital, Staff, Medicare, Services Locations: Mont, Butte, Spokespeople, COVID, Montana

A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday in a case filed by TikTok and five Montana content creators who want the court to block the state’s ban on the video sharing app before it takes effect Jan. 1. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula is not expected to rule immediately on the request for a preliminary injunction. Content creators say the ban violates free speech rights and could cause economic harm for their businesses. Chinese law allows the government to order companies to help it gather intelligence. Meanwhile, 18 attorneys generals from mostly Republican-led states are backing Montana and asking the judge to let the law be implemented.

Persons: TikTok, Donald Molloy, Montana, hasn’t, ByteDance, “, Montanans Organizations: U.S, District, U.S . State Department, Oracle, Montana Legislature, American Civil Liberties Union, Frontier Foundation, Republican Locations: Montana, Missoula, U.S, Beijing, China, . Montana

(AP) —A law to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors in Montana is temporarily banned, a state judge ruled Tuesday, just four days before it was to take effect. District Court Judge Jason Marks agreed with transgender youth, their families and healthcare providers that a law passed by the 2023 Montana Legislature is unconstitutional and would harm the mental and physical health of minors with gender dysphoria. Montana is one of at least 22 states that have enacted bans on gender-affirming medical care for minors and most face lawsuits. Political Cartoons View All 1182 ImagesAll the laws ban gender-affirming surgery for minors. It’s not clear how many of those patients were 18 when they underwent surgery.

Persons: HELENA, Jason Marks, Marks Organizations: Montana Supreme Locations: Mont, Montana, . Montana, U.S

☆ Montana governor bans TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Greg Gianforte signed a bill Wednesday banning TikTok in the state. The bill, which will take effect in January, specifically names TikTok as its target, prohibiting the app from operating within state lines. In a statement to CNN, TikTok said it would push to defend the rights of users in Montana. “Governor Gianforte has signed a bill that infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok, a platform that empowers hundreds of thousands of people across the state. NetChoice, a technology trade group that includes TikTok as a member, called the Montana bill unconstitutional.

☆ A photo of women snickering at trans lawmaker Zooey Zephyr in Montana looks a lot like the photos of white people snickering at Black people in the 1950s
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The vote meant Zephyr could no longer enter the House chamber, so she worked from a public bench in the hallway outside. State Rep. Zooey Zephyr sits on a bench just outside the main chamber of the House on April 27 in Helena, Montana. The censure prevents Zephyr from entering the House floor, so she has instead been working from a public bench outside the chamber. Photos from the time show authorities in different cities escorting Black children to school through throngs of glaring white protestors. Similarly, a group of supporters on Tuesday managed to hold Zephyr's seat outside the chamber for her, the lawmaker said.

☆ Montana's House just voted to censure its first openly transgender lawmaker after protests and days of not letting her speak
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Montana House of Representatives voted to censure its first transgender legislator. State Rep. Zooey Zephyr was censured days after protestors interrupted the legislature because the House speaker wouldn't recognize her on the floor. In doing so, Zephyr will not be allowed on the House floor or gallery for the remainder of the legislative session. State Rep. SJ Howell, a Democratic legislator who is nonbinary, spoke in support of Zephyr on Wednesday and said the protests on Monday were unsurprising. Now, after Zephyr's censure, a similar problem could occur for Montana Republicans as Zephyr increasingly gets placed into the spotlight.

☆ TikTok ban is the least palatable of options
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Montana is following a movement around the United States to try to keep Americans from using TikTok. That has consequences: The United States has never pulled a platform used by so many people to communicate. China, which before TikTok had never cracked the U.S. market with a successful social media network, is unlikely to let ByteDance part with TikTok. More recently the company had been working with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to ease concerns. TikTok users in the United States could still binge on short videos, but the company – and its rivals – would face tougher constraints.

☆ Montana Republicans are trying to censure a transgender legislator for castigating them about a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Democratic Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr is the state's first openly transgender legislator. Following her speech, Montana's Freedom Caucus demanded Zephyr be censured. Additionally, the caucus also misgendered Zephyr, the first openly transgender member of the Montana legislature, in the letter. House Minority Leader Kim Abbott, in a statement to the Helena Independent Record, admonished the Montana Freedom Caucus for disrespecting her colleague. "I stand by my accurate description of the devastating consequences of banning essential medical care for transgender youth," Zephyr wrote.

☆ Republicans Call for Censure of Transgender Lawmaker Who Condemned Care Ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Remy Tumin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Representative Zooey Zephyr took to the floor of the Montana Legislature on Tuesday to make an impassioned plea for her colleagues to reject a bill that would ban transition care for transgender minors, saying that denying such care would be “tantamount to torture.”“This body should be ashamed,” Ms. Zephyr, a first-term Democrat and the Legislature’s first transgender member, said. “If you vote yes on this bill and yes on these amendments I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”The Montana Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers, responded by accusing Ms. Zephyr in a letter of “attempting to shame the legislative body” by using “hateful rhetoric.” The letter, which misgendered Ms. Zephyr, called for her to be censured. On Thursday, however, the House adjourned without taking that step. It was unclear if they planned to take up the matter on Friday.

☆ Montana lawmakers vote to completely ban TikTok in the state
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Washington CNN —Montana became the first US state on Friday to pass legislation banning TikTok on all personal devices, sending a bill to Gov. Greg Gianforte prohibiting TikTok from operating within state lines and barring app stores from offering TikTok for downloads. The legislation marks the furthest step yet by a state government to restrict TikTok over perceived security concerns and comes as some federal lawmakers have called for a national ban of TikTok. Individual users of TikTok, meanwhile, would not be penalized for accessing TikTok. In December, Gianforte banned TikTok from state government devices and the following month urged the Montana University System to follow suit, which it did.

☆ Montana Legislature Approves Outright Ban of TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Montana House of Representatives on Friday approved a total ban on TikTok inside the state, setting up the state’s Republican governor to sign the first-of-its-kind prohibition into law. The legislation, which would also bar app stores from carrying TikTok, the wildly popular viral video app, was approved 54 to 43 in the last of two votes in the State House. Greg Gianforte must decide whether to sign the bill into law, veto it or do nothing for 10 days after receiving the bill and let it become law without his signature. A spokeswoman for Mr. Gianforte did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A TikTok spokeswoman, Brooke Oberwetter, said in a statement that supporters of the bill had admitted they didn’t have a feasible plan for carrying out the ban.

☆ These recently elected trans lawmakers say anti-LGBTQ bills inspired them to run
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Julie Moreau | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

Zooey Zephyr, the first out transgender woman elected to the Montana Legislature, was inspired to run after her state passed three pieces of legislation targeting the LGBTQ community. 'Real, tangible effects on trans people'State legislatures have increasingly become battlegrounds over LGBTQ rights. Republicans began introducing legislation targeting queer rights at an increased clip in the wake of the 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell vs. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationally. In 2017, Republicans introduced 129 bills targeting LGBTQ rights, many of which focused on issues of religious freedom. However, she believes bills targeting LGBTQ rights are ultimately a losing strategy.

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