News Release
ACLU of Montana
The Montana Supreme Court will hear an oral argument in the case L.B. v. the United States of America, at the University of Montana, in Missoula on April 15 in conjunction with their Law Day events.
Oral Arguments are set for Friday, April 15, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. in the George Dennison Theatre on the University of Montana campus in Missoula. The introduction to the oral argument will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the same location and provides context for the oral arguments. Following the oral argument, there will be a panel reception with attorneys on the case –this will be an intimate Q&A and an opportunity for the public and the press to ask questions.
Background
On October 15, 2021, the ACLU of Montana filed an amicus brief in the Montana Supreme Court as co-counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union and Kramer Levin in support of the plaintiff-appellant in L.B. v. the United States, Supreme Court No. OP 21-0395. L.B., a resident of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana, was raped by an on-duty police officer who threatened to arrest her and have social services take her children away if she did not submit to him.
The officer was employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), a federal government agency that exercises law enforcement jurisdiction on Indian reservations. He was criminally prosecuted and convicted, and L.B. brought a civil suit in federal district court against the BIA officer, the BIA and the U.S. government, seeking to hold the governmental defendants vicariously liable for the officer’s conduct under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). However, the district court dismissed L.B.’s suit, holding that the government was not vicariously liable because the officer was acting outside of the scope of his employment under Montana law.
Amicus Brief:
Blog:
WHAT:
The Montana Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the case of LB v. United States.
WHO:
Timothy M. Bechtold, Bechtold Law Firm PLLC and John Heenan, Heenan & Cook, for Plaintiff-Appellant L.B. Timothy A. Tatarka, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Montana, for the Defendant-Appellee United States of America. All seven Montana Supreme Court Justices, Chief Justice Mike McGrath, Justice James Jeremiah Shea, Justice Laurie McKinnon, Justice Beth Baker, Justice Dirk Sandefur, Justice James A. Rice, and Justice Ingrid Gustafson.
WHEN:
Friday, April 15, 2022, at 9:30 a.m.
WHERE:
The George Dennison Theatre on the campus of the University of Montana in Missoula, Maurice Ave, Missoula, Montana 59812.
