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.

Local lawyers will have the opportunity to hone their Constitutional law skills during an ACLU-sponsored seminar to give volunteer attorneys the information required to effectively represent arrested protestors during the 2008 Republican National Convention.

The session will be held on Aug. 19 from 9:00 a.m. to noon at Fredrikson & Byron in Minneapolis. Speakers iclude ACLU President Nadine Strossen, two District Court judges and several attorneys.

“Now more than ever, we need skilled attorneys to ensure that freedom of speech is protected during the Convention and that arrestees receive immediate and effective representation so their rights are not curtailed,” said Chuck Samuelson, executive director of the ACLU-MN in a press release.

For more info, click here.

Cooperating attorneys for the ACLU of Minnesota and the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild filed a complaint today in the United States District Court, against the city of St. Paul on behalf of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, according to a press release from the ACLU.

The complaint challenges the city’s violation of the coalition’s rights to free speech and due process of law, in connection with the coalition’s plans to demonstrate at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul on Sept. 1, 2008. The complaint seeks to require St. Paul to grant the coalition’s request for a demonstration permit in sufficient detail, and to require the city to amend its permit procedure to provide basic due process to permit applicants.

Cooperating attorneys representing the coalition include Robert J. Hennessey, Lindquist & Vennum PLLP; Bruce Nestor, De Leon & Nestor; David B. Potter, Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP; Howard Bass, Bass Law Firm; and Jordan Kushner, Kushner Law Office. Professor Raleigh Levine from William Mitchell College of Law has been consulting on the case.

The Minnesota chapter of the ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild and members of the Coalition to March on the RNC are having a news conference at noon at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis. The purpose of the conference is to discuss the ongoing efforts to get permits for planned demonstrations when the GOP national convention is held in St. Paul this September.

The Village Voice recently ran a piece on the assurances by St. Paul police that Minnesota will be, well, Minnesota nice about how they deal with protesters at the Republican National Convention late this summer. From the title of the article, it's easy to see the writer was a bit skeptical of claims that its warmer up North: "Minnesota cops promise kinder, gentler RNC: So why are they stocking up on stun guns?"

Hmmm. Perhaps they were on sale at Target?

We are now six months away from the start of the Republican National Convention right here in Minnesota. (Hmmm. Will it be McCain or McCain who is nominated?)

Minnesota is pretty protective of First Amendment rights. No doubt that proclivity will be put to the ultimate test as protesters of all stripes descend upon the Twin Cities to air their grievances at the convention. Folks will be there who are anti-war, pro-choice, anti-death penalty, pro-same-sex marriage, anti-tax cut, pro nationalized health care, etc ., etc., etc. ... All of them will have three things in common: they'll be carrying picket signs; they'll be chanting loudly; and they'll be relying on their free-speech rights to make sure their concerns are heard.

On the other end of the equation are police and public officials, who want to make sure that order is maintained and that the protests don't interfere with the rights of locals and those here to participate in the convention. It's a delicate balance that can best be summed up in the words of that great high court jurist, Oliver Wendell Holmes: "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins."

And speaking of noses, we are going to get a whiff today of what free-speech arguments are to come. The anti-war protesters apparently do not think that the permitting process recently announced by St. Paul police passes the smell test. They plan a press conference at 4 p.m. today to announce their official response.

For the next six months, Minnesota's free-speech jurisprudence will devolop as if it were on steroids. Here's to hoping that by the time the convention is over and the out-of-town protesters have left, Minnesotans free-speech protections are as strong or stronger than they are today.