Minnesota News and Press Releases

Legal challenges to a Minnesota campaign finance disclosure law, which has been hailed as a potential model for federal legislation, will be considered by the full Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in September. See Gavel Grab for more.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Campaign Finance and Disclosure Board adopted a resolution that requires full disclosure of campaign contributions to ballot questions. This decision has closed several loopholes that would have allowed millions of dollars of undisclosed contributions will flow to both sides of the marriage debate.

A Minnesota Supreme Court panel has dismissed charges of unethical conduct lodged against a now-retired county district judge, but the story does not end there. Read details in Gavel Grab.

A federal appeals court has let stand a new Minnesota law that requires corporations to disclose their financial support for election-season political advertising. See Gavel Grab for more.

The American Bar Association yesterday filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the petitioner in Michael D. Turner v. Rebecca L. Rogers. The question in the case is whether an indigent defendant who faces incarceration at a civil contempt hearing has a constitutional right...

Of Gov. Pawlenty's three recent appointments to the Hennepin County bench, two are apparently political friends of the governor ("Pawlenty skips usual process in picking judge,'' Dec. 22). The exception, Judge Mary Vasaly, is a widely respected bar leader who has worked tirelessly in many organizations to promote judicial independence...

Despite a potentially uphill battle in the upcoming legislative session, proponents of judicial election reform are moving full speed ahead with their message. Advocates of change favor a move from the current system of electing judges to a retention system by which the governor would fill open judicial seats and...

Should Minnesota stick with the current system of choosing judges by competitive elections and maybe even make judicial elections more similar to elections for other offices by allowing judicial candidates to run as partisans? Or should the state switch to a system in which judges are recommended by a panel...

OCT. 8, 2010—A Democratic Illinois Supreme Court justice, faced with a potentially costly reelection challenge, has spent more on TV ads than any other candidate or group in this year’s state high-court elections, according to data compiled by a reform group, while a Chamber of Commerce group in Ohio last week launched an ad campaign supporting two Republican candidates.

The Justice at Stake Campaign and a partner, the Brennan Center for Justice, have unveiled a new website featuring data on national TV spending, candidate fundraising and key political players in 2010 state high-court elections, which may be unprecedented in their character. State Supreme Court retention (up-or-down) elections in four...

A federal judge refused requests to suspend a new Minnesota law that requires corporations to disclose their financial support of election-season advertising. Learn more from Gavel Grab.

After spending six months suspended from the bench, District Judge Timothy Blakely returned to work this spring and filed for re-election. Many of his peers and co-workers wish he hadn't. Throughout the courthouses and seven counties of the 1st Judicial District, prominent judges and attorneys are fuming that Blakely is...

Voters this fall will have the chance to shift the makeup of multiple state supreme courts, as candidates and interests groups battle over tort law, judicial philosophy and hot-button social issues. The closely divided Michigan Supreme Court could swing ideologically right or left after a surprise retirement last month, while...

The U.S. economy shed 131,000 jobs in July, nearly double the amount analysts had hoped and predicted. The unemployment rate held steady at 9.5 percent. As employers continue to cut back on employers, there is at least one segment of the economy that has job openings that remain open. According...

For American corporations testing their new freedom to spend money directly on campaigns, the backlash against donations by Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. sends a stark warning: Proceed at your own risk. Target has borne the brunt of public outrage over six-figure contributions that both retailers made to a...

"The National Organization for Marriage has been gearing up its efforts in Minnesota this year with television ads, a new round of radio spots, a series of rallies  and a mailer targeting Sen. Paul Koering. But the group hasn’t disclosed any of its activities with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and...

"Iowa is debating it. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has endorsed it. And Minnesota will surely revisit the issue of judicial recall, a concept that was considered and allowed to expire in Minnesota’s 2010 legislative session. The issue of whether judges should face a retention election after their initial term was...

"The Brennan Center for Justice, the National Institute on Money in State Politics and the Justice at Stake Campaign released a report today showing that spending on state judicial races is increasing dramatically - $207 million in the last decade. The report highlights the spending on key races in several...

 Federal appeals court decisions have stirred up concerns about higher-spending, increasingly politicized judicial elections in at least two Midwestern states. See details in Gavel Grab.

A split three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this morning issued an opinion sweeping away a couple of the state’s remaining restrictions on judicial campaigns. The federal appellate court struck down rules barring judicial candidates from endorsing candidates for political offices and from personally soliciting contributions...

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Target Corp.'s CEO on Tuesday defended the discount retailer's political donations to a Minnesota group helping the state's Republican candidate for governor, telling employees at its Minneapolis headquarters that the company's support of the gay community is "unwavering." Click here to read more .

WASHINGTON — Ten states have swiftly passed new laws requiring additional disclosure of political spending, following a Supreme Court ruling that lets corporations and unions pump unlimited amounts of money into certain campaign commercials. The push in states comes as a high-profile effort in Congress to blunt the court's January...

Upset with restrictions on political campaign contributions, backers of Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer are seeking to overturn a Minnesota law barring corporations from contributing directly to campaigns and parties. State law now allows corporations to spend money independently of campaigns on ads supporting or opposing candidates, an arrangement that...

A new Minnesota law requiring corporations to disclose financial support of election-season advertising faces a legal challenge filed by lawyer James Bopp. Read more in Gavel Grab.

A new political action committee aimed at getting conservatives elected to judicial posts in Minnesota has been formed by Republican activists Joe Salmon and Dorothy Fleming. This fall, the slate of endorsees by the Justice in Minnesota PAC have all run for court positions in the past and lost —...