CURRENT minnlocal.com
Eden Prairie
In the Community, With the Community, For the Community
May 12, 2011 • V41.19
EP baseball Page 24
75¢
The Minnesota Supreme Court takes
center stage
After the oral arguments, Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page talks with senior Brandon Hill. Hill, an accomplished student, served as Page’s guide for the day.
in Eden Prairie Attorney David Flaherty gives his argument during a Minnesota Supreme Court case at the Eden Prairie High School Performing Arts Center Thursday, May 5. The case was the State of Minnesota v. Melissa Jean Crawley that originated in Winona County. It was the 33rd time the court has made oral arguments accessible to high school students, in an effort to show just how the system works. PAUL GROESSEL • SUN NEWSPAPERS They may have been on stage but they were far from acting. The robes, arguments and case were the real thing. Around 700 Eden Prairie High School students heard actual oral arguments in a Minnesota Supreme Court case Thursday, May 5, in the school’s performing arts center. The case was the State of Minnesota v. Melissa Jean Crawley that originated in Winona County. The central question in the case: Does a state law that criminalizes making a false statement about police misconduct a violation of the First Amendment? In general, Crawley’s attorney argued the state law, Minn. Stat. 609.505, subdivision 2, is not constitutional since it makes it illegal to make a false statement that is harmful to a government official, but it does not criminalize false
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statements supportive of a government official. The Supreme Court only heard the oral arguments, and a ruling was not made. Taking four to six months to rule on a case is not abnormal, according to Lissa Finne with the court office. The court usually spends the first two weeks of a month hearing oral arguments and ruling on cases. The second two weeks they read the cases for the next month and write the opinions for the decisions they just decided. That’s how Justice Helen Meyer described the justices’ typical day during the question and answer session after the oral arguments were heard on Thursday. Also during those first two weeks, the court decides which cases they will take. COURT: TO PAGE 22
Justice Paul Anderson has lunch with Eden Prairie High School students following the oral arguments. Anderson is an Eden Prairie High School graduate, and after the meal, he was presented with a personalized Eagles sweatshirt. (Photos by Paul Groessel • Sun Newspapers)
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