Minnesota Lawyer Blog

Courtroom 101 of the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center Wednesday morning was bustling but well organized, as dozens of court employees, sheriff’s deputies, volunteer defense attorneys, county prosecutors, defendants and lookers-on conferred, scattered, and waited for their turn in front of District Court judge Joanne Smith.

Of the nearly 300 protesters arrested Monday and Tuesday in confrontations related to the Republican National Convention, about 80 were on the arraignment center docket for Wednesday.

Although it took until nearly 11 a.m. for the first case to be called, Smith and the attorneys present made short work of most cases, rambling through more than 10 in the first half-hour -- presumably to complete arraignments for defendants who by noon would have been held for 36 hours.

First up was Andrew Paul Temperante, who was charged with unlawful assembly. Volunteer defense attorney Conor Tobin presented a bail argument for Temperante -- who showed some civic pride by appearing in a Minnesota Timberwolves jersey -- by saying that his client was a lifelong resident of the Twin Cities who held a fulltime job at the Wedge Co-op in Minneapolis. Smith saw it the defense’s way, and released Temperante on reduced bail of $100 while continuing his initial court appearance until Sept. 25.

Noting the pace at which cases were being processed, one volunteer attorney was heard to remark, “My client has 10 people ahead of her, but the way they’re moving, I don’t dare leave to use the bathroom.”

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.