Free Republic

The Supreme Court on Monday found that a criminal defendant can be sentenced for violating his supervised release, even if the release expires while he is incarcerated ahead of facing new charges. The justices, divided in the 5-4 decision, ruled against Jason Mont's argument that a district court shouldn't be able to charge him for violating his release because the term had expired at the time of the new sentencing. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sided with conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh in the majority. Justice Neil Gorsuch joined liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer...

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) -- A Montana police officer who wrote on his Facebook page that there should be a law allowing police to take people to jail for being "stupid" has resigned.

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward for information leading to the conviction of whoever illegally shot and killed what officials say was one of Montana's largest grizzly bears. The carcass of the big grizzly, called Maximus because he stood 7 1/2 feet tall and weighed about 800 pounds, was found Aug. 12 on a ranch in northern Montana.

Cattle ranchers in the Paradise Valley say shipping weights have declined since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. They say their cattle stay close to gates instead of grazing entire pastures. Wary animals tend to eat less than relaxed animals.

Sheep don't mix well with grizzly bears and wolves. Now they won't mix at all on more than 70,000 acres in the Absaroka-Beartooth wilderness. A 74,000-acre sheep grazing allotment south of Big Timber in the Gallatin National Forest has been permanently closed and the ranchers who used it for generations have been paid to move their sheep elsewhere... The agreement is the eighth -- and second-largest -- in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in recent years that has led to the retirement of about 300,000 acres from grazing. The latest involves the Ash Mountain and Iron Mountain allotments used for generations...

Some ranchers say the wolves in the Madison Valley have grown increasingly brazen and are apparently unafraid of people. State wildlife officials say such behavior is to be expected, given the federal protection the predators have had in the decade since being reintroduced in the Yellowstone National Park. Jack Atcheson Jr. said he was spooked on a recent hunting trip, when three men and three mules got within 47 yards of a wolf that was staring right at them. The Butte hunting outfitter, who books international trips, said he had never seen wolves in Alaska, Asia or other places act...

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Dec. 9, 2005) -- One of the many tasks assigned the Marines of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, is to work with the Iraqi Army and help them become a self-sufficient force able to serve the needs of the fledgling democracy of Iraq. One Marine, Lance Cpl. Cameron Tillman, a rifleman with Company I, recently conducted a patrol alongside the IA and was impressed by how far they’ve come in the few months the battalion has been in Iraq. “We conducted a basic security patrol to help train the IA,” said the 18-year-old Munce, Mont., native. “This...

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Oct. 21, 2005) -- People join the military for many reasons. Some join for adventure, some for college money, some for travel and some join for the experience and chance to serve their country. Lance Cpl. Brandon Holland, a 20-year-old from Missoula, Mont., decided to enlist and become a Marine for all those reasons and more. Holland, a heavy machine gunner with Platoon Black, Combined Anti-Armor Team, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, grew up in Montana and always knew that the world was a bigger place than his home state. “I always wanted to join,”...

WEST GLACIER, Mont. (AP) -- Firefighters set trees on fire Tuesday in efforts to prevent a major blaze from reaching the largely evacuated West Glacier and a nearby village in Glacier National Park. The work was aimed at creating a backfire that would remove 2,000 acres of fuel from the path of the approaching forest fire. "Tonight, right now what you see as green, will be gone," said Clinton Northway, the burnout supervisor. Even though small backfires the night before had turned the fire, officials were concerned that the blaze could make another run because humidity was extremely low and...