Minnesota Lawyer Blog

Here’s an idea for your next office pool: How many protesters will be arrested at the Republican National Convention in September?

There seems to be some disagreement among various parties with an interest in such disparate topics as maintaining law and order and maintaining citizens’ rights to protest. The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota predicts 800 arrests during the four-day convention, while the St. Paul Police Department thinks the figure will be a fraction of that.

Meanwhile, however, Ramsey County Sherriff Bob Fletcher said the ACLU’s projection might be more accurate. Complicating matters is the recent history of GOP conventions: 1,800 were arrested at the 2004 RNC in New York City, while the 2000 convention in Philadelphia saw only about 600 arrests. (Chicago ’68 notwithstanding, Democratic conventions tend to be much more peaceful affairs.)

We’re not bookmakers, but if we were to devise an “over/under” figure, it would lean closer to the Philadelphia total. After crunching the numbers, our official prediction: 755 arrests, or about one for every three Republican delegates in attendance.

Following of decades of struggle and inequality in the assignment of city-managed contracts, St. Paul has created a new city department that aims to make city contracts more accessible to owners of firms from traditionally underrepresented communities.

The creation of the Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity will bring together civil rights enforcement; contract analysis and procurement; contract monitoring, investigation, and enforcement; and capacity building and workforce development under one roof. At the moment, those services are spread between four departments with little overlap and coordination.

A recent audit found that less than 7 percent of $220 million worth of contracts in 2006 went to minority- and female-owned businesses.

The new department, which will open its offices next year, has started the search process for a director. The 13-member search committee -- which includes St. Paul attorneys Tene Davis and A.L. Brown, along with former St. Paul deputy mayor Susan Kimberly and St. Paul NAACP head Nathaniel Khaliq -- plans to solicit public input on the selection process during a meeting tomorrow.

It seems there might be plenty of attorneys whose backgrounds not only in contract work but work on behalf of disenfranchised communities might make them worth a look. Regardless, the search process for the director (which the committee hopes to complete by January) ought to be interesting.