North Dakota Supreme Court Archives

Pipeline developer goes to ND Supreme Court seeking to block Greenpeace Netherlands lawsuit

December 19, 2025

KVRR Staff,

Betsy Elsberry, an attorney representing Greenpeace International, delivers oral arguments before the North Dakota Supreme Court on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — A court case involving Greenpeace and the Dakota Access Pipeline developer went before the North Dakota Supreme Court on Thursday, with justices asked to stop a counter-suit…

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North Dakota names first female Supreme Court chief justice

December 10, 2025

KVRR Staff,

North Dakota Supreme Court Justice Lisa Fair McEvers asks questions during a Dec. 18, 2023, hearing in Bismarck. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — Lisa Fair McEvers has been elected the first female chief justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court. She earned about 83% of the vote by sitting justices and district…

North Dakota Supreme Court supermajority rule rare among states

December 9, 2025

KVRR Staff,

BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — An unusual clause in the North Dakota Constitution that limits the power of the courts kept the state’s near-total abortion ban from being struck down last month. Most state Supreme Courts require a majority vote to declare a law unconstitutional. But in North Dakota, it takes a supermajority — a vote of at least…

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Chief justice candidates share ambitions for North Dakota court system

December 8, 2025

KVRR Staff,

North Dakota Supreme Court justices, from left, Chief Jon Jensen, Lisa Fair McEvers and Jerod Tufte listen to arguments during a hearing on Dec. 18, 2023. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The two candidates for next chief justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court have a vision for a better-resourced and more…

Pipeline developer asking North Dakota Supreme Court to weigh in on foreign Greenpeace case

December 1, 2025

KVRR Staff,

Flags from tribal nations are displayed near Cannonball, N.D., in August 2016 in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline is appealing a North Dakota’s judge’s decision not to interfere in a free speech lawsuit…

Justice Daniel Crothers to retire from North Dakota Supreme Court

November 26, 2025

TJ Nelson,

BISMARCK, N.D. (KVRR) — North Dakota Supreme Court Justice Daniel Crothers has announced his intention to retire. In a notice to Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Crothers says he will step down on February 28, 2026 after serving more than 20 years on the high court. The Fargo-born judge earned his law degree from UND. He clerked in the New Mexico Court…

North Dakota Supreme Court ruling reverses judge’s decision that overturned abortion ban

November 21, 2025

KVRR Staff,

North Dakota State Capitol / BismarckBISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Supreme court has ruled on the state’s overturned abortion ban. In a split decision, the court says it could not reach a majority required to deem it unconstitutional. The decision makes abortion illegal in the state again. The Red River Women’s Clinic, once located in North Dakota but…

Spencer Moen’s appeal for a new trial is rejected by North Dakota Supreme Court

October 9, 2025

TJ Nelson,

BISMARCK, N.D. (KVRR) — North Dakota Supreme Court has rejected Spencer Moen’s appeal for a new trial. The opinion was unanimous in affirming the criminal judgment against the West Fargo man. Moen argues the district court violated his constitutional right to confront witnesses because it failed to comply with statutory requirements for allowing remote testimony by child witnesses. Last December,…

Horace Homeowners Ponder Next Move After Lawsuit Dismissed

Judge Constance Cleveland dismissed the lawsuit against the city of Horace on a technicality, saying the plaintiffs had missed a filing window.

September 4, 2025

Gabriel Ostler,

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – Back in April, 15 Horace homeowners banded together with the O’Keeffe, O’Brien, and Lyson law firm to fight what they said were unreasonable special assessments. That number had dwindled to 12 by the time the lawsuit made it to a judge, and the plaintiffs say that the deluge of assessments has continued to force people out…

North Dakota Supreme Court allows landowner challenge to CO2 storage law to proceed

August 29, 2025

KVRR Staff,

North Dakota Supreme Court Justices, from left, Douglas Bahr, Daniel Crothers, Jon Jensen, Lisa Fair McEvers and Jerod Tufte hear arguments Dec. 18, 2023, in a case involving Summit Carbon Solutions and landowners. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The North Dakota Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to take another look…