The ComMN Law: A Minnesota Supreme Court Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Fagin v. State Jul 07, 2019

Show notes

A brief update on the Cruz-Guzman school-segregation case (initially heard at SCOM summer 2018), and charter schools’ unsuccessful attempt to be exempted from the decision

The Brodkorb-MacDonald saga never ends, as Michelle MacDonald survives Brodkorb’s attempt to get her case thrown out for missing deadlines

Mark gives tribute to Justice Lillehaug, who announced this month that he would retire from the bench after next term

Resulted opinion in Central Housing Associates v. Olson, our November case (with an outcome surprising to us at TCL HQ)

Court of appeals opinion in Fagin v. State

Oral argument in Fagin v. State (podcast form here)

Briefing in Fagin v. State:

Appellant (State of Minnesota) brief

Respondent (Fagin) brief

Appellant (State of Minnesota) reply brief

Firefighters Union v. City of Brainerd May 31, 2019

Show notes

A pair (one and two) of K. Feath pieces in MN Lawyer outlining what went down with the Public Safety/Judiciary budget

Report from the International Bar Association on harassment and bullying in the legal profession, as well as a MN Lawyer piece highlighting the finding that a third of female lawyers are sexually harassed

Here’s everything we know about the lake-naming controversy (post-recording update: the State has appealed the COA ruling to the MN Supreme Court)

Court of appeals opinion in Firefighters Union v. City of Brainerd

Oral argument in Firefighters Union v. City of Brainerd (podcast form here)

Briefing in Firefighters Union v. City of Brainerd:

Appellant (City of Brainerd) brief

Respondent (Firefighters Union) brief

Appellant (City of Brainerd) reply brief

Minnesota Sands v. County of Winona Apr 30, 2019

Show notes

Justice Thissen pokes MN Supreme Court for “Sesame Street” approach

Folks, don’t skirt your taxes like William Butler, regardless of what Jesus says (if you have hours of time to kill, check out this blog that we do not recommend)

Courts deny funding for public defender interpreter services (heading soon to a SCOM near you)

Opinion published in the case featured in our September episode, Warren v. Dinter

Oral argument in MN Sands v. County of Winona

Briefing in MN Sands v. County of Winona:

Appellant (Minnesota Sands) brief

Respondent (County of Winona) brief

Appellant (Minnesota Sands) reply brief

State v. Harvey Mar 31, 2019

Show notes

Alan Page visited Grey Cloud Elementary where he spoke fondly of his time on the court (including in relation to his many other career acheivements)

In the latest Michelle MacDonald update, Michael Brodkorb and Allison Mann (see our interview with all three in our Maethner v. Someplace Safe episode) were awarded summary judgment in MacDonald’s defamation case against them and their organization, Missing in Minnesota

MN Supreme Court hosted a Call to Action for Lawyer Wellbeing where industry stakeholders were invited to discuss and begin to implement changes to address the crisis of lawyer wellbeing in our legal community

Justice Thissen (and TCL!) in another excellent Jon Schmidt interview for Bench & Bar of Minnesota

Oral argument in State v. Harvey

Briefing in State v. Harvey:

Appellant (Harvey) brief

Appellant (Harvey) pro se brief

Respondent (State) brief

Appellant (Harvey) reply brief

In the Matter of the Application of J.M.M. Feb 27, 2019

Show notes

Justice Thissen speaks about equity, impartial courts

The Star Tribune highlights how Minnesota’s judicial budget request reflects impending wave of retirements

Court of Appeals opinion in In the Matter of the Application of J.M.M. (and its prior opinion on initial appeal)

Oral argument in In the Matter of the Application of J.M.M.

Briefing in In the Matter of the Application of J.M.M.:

Appellant (J.M.M.) brief

Respondent (appointed counsel) brief

Appellant (J.M.M.) reply brief

Amicus (Standpoint and Battered Women’s Justice Project) brief

Larson v. Gannett Company Jan 31, 2019

Show notes

New Minnesota judicial selection commissioner pledges to continue diversifying courts

MN Lawyer’s K. Feather on Blaha’s blues and whether the MN Legislature will continue to reimburse government officials for their adventures to the MN Supreme Court

The court of appeals begins posting its oral arguments online, and already has quite a large archive just one month in (happy listening, law nerds!)

Fallout from last summer’s hottest Education Clause case is that Forslund v. State (also known as next summer’s hottest Education Clause case) got another shot at the court of appeals, which rejected it again

MN Lawyer summary of Larson v. Gannett Company and oral argument

Court of Appeals opinion in Larson v. Gannett Company

Oral argument in Larson v. Gannett Company

Briefing in Larson v. Gannett Company:

Appellant (Larson) brief

Respondent (Gannett Company) brief

Appellant (Larson) reply brief

Respondent (Gannett Company) reply brief

Amicus (various media organizations) brief

Bandemer v. Ford Motor Company Dec 31, 2018

Show notes

Dan Heilman for MN Lawyer on a survey that showed that (1) the “Twin Cities overall pays partners far less than in many larger markets” and (2) “male partners have consistently reported substantially higher average compensation than their female counterparts”

You know you want to read this sexy story about legislative process reform . . .

#tbt to Dusosky v. Fischbach (the case about “sitting on two seats with one butt”) and Fischbach’s defense that was recently retroactively funded by the MN Legislature

Justice Thissen’s first majority opinion published December 5, 2018, State v. Ortega-Rodriguez

Court of Appeals opinion in Bandemer v. Ford Motor Company

Oral argument in Bandemer v. Ford Motor Company

Briefing in Bandemer v. Ford Motor Company:

Appellant (Bandemer) brief

Respondent (Ford) brief

Appellant (Bandemer) reply brief

Amicus (US Chamber of Commerce) brief

Transcript of the episode here

Central Housing Associates v. Olson Nov 28, 2018

Show notes

Results of the judicial elections and our previously unreleased audio of Michelle MacDonald signaling that she has not ruled out a 2020 run (heads up, Justices Lillehaug and Thissen)

David Schultz’s op-ed in the Pioneer Press, “Let’s appoint, rather than elect, Minnesota judges,” on Minnesota’s mode of choosing judges

Former-Justice Alan Page’s comments CBS News on the current administration and his op-ed in the Strib on why he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom (he also stopped by his namesake middle school to discuss accepting the award with students there)

Justice Anderson sits for an interview with Jon Schmidt (of State v. Edstrom fame) for Bench & Bar of Minnesota

Opinion in In re Marriage of Gill (our featured case from May) with synopses from the firm that argued the case and MN Lawyer’s Barbara L. Jones

Opinion in Depositors Insurance Company v. Dollansky, authored by Justice Hudson, with a seventeen-page dissent (his first!) from Justice Thissen, as well as the MN Lawyer summary

Order not adopting the proposed amendments to Minnesota Rule of Evidence 404(b), with another dissent from Justice Thissen, taking up the mantle of his predecessor, former-Justice Stras, on the need to amend 404(b)

Court of Appeals opinion in Central Housing Associates v. Olson

Text of Minn. Stat. § 504B.441andMinn. Stat. § 504B.285

Oral argument in Central Housing Associates v. Olson

Maethner v. Someplace Safe Oct 26, 2018

Show notes

MN Lawyer’s Kevin Featherly with an update on the finances of the 2018 judicial races (bottom line: no one is trying to buy our judges . . . yet)

Justice Chutich's campaignwebsite and Michelle MacDonald’s campaign website

Video of the judicial candidate forum in Golden Valley on October 4, hosted by the League of Women Voters and the Minnesota State Bar Association, featuring Justice Chutich and Judge Jesson, as well as their respective challengers, Michelle MacDonald and Anthony L. Brown

Michelle MacDonald's disciplinary casesuspending her from the practice of law for 60 days starting in January 2018 followed by supervised probation for 2 years, her cert petitionto the US Supreme Court, (and its denial) both of which she discusses in our interview

Missing in Minnesota highlights Michelle MacDonald’s involvement in the Grazzini-Rucki case and subsequent disciplinary history (with documents relating to her most recent disciplinary investigation)

Minnesota Lawyer reports on Michelle MacDonald’s lawsuit (complaint here) against Michael Brodkorb and Allison Mann, from the initial filing, to the lack of the factual basis for the suit, to the resulting disciplinary investigation

Michael Brodkorb and Allison Mann release their book, The Girls Are Gone, which chronicles the disappearance of Samantha and Gianna Rucki, and includes an examination of MacDonald’s legal work on the case

First Amendment Scholar Eugene Volokh weighs in on the First Amendment questions in our featured case, Maethner v. Someplace Safe (Professor Volokh filed an amicus brief in this case with his band of “bloggers and podcasters”)

Minnesota Lawyer summarizes the issues in our featured case, Maethner v. Someplace Safe

Court of Appeals opinion in Maethner v. Someplace Safe

Oral argument in Maethner v. Someplace Safe

Warren v. Dinter Sep 26, 2018

Show notes

Winona Daily News article on the retirement of Judge Jeffery Thompson, which prompted the Third Judicial District to begin a discussion that eventually led the Supreme Court to issue an order moving Judge Thompson's former seat from Winona Court to Olmsted County

Minnesota State Bar Association poll on contested appellate judicial races; Justice Thissen’s OTD tweet on a constitutional case interpreting what it means to be “learned in the law,” a requirement for judicial office in Minnesota; and Allison Mann’s musing on possible implications for the upcoming judicial race

Star Tribune feel-good story on Ralph Campbell, a twenty-nine years sober licensed drug and alcohol counselor, who has been the "glue" of the Hennepin County DWI Court since he began volunteering there in 2008

Opinion in State v. Edstrom, published August 15, 2018

Opinion in Johnson v. State, published August 22, 2018

Court of Appeals opinion in Warren v. Dinter

Oral argument in Warren v. Dinter