Administrative Law

The Changes in Contract Rights that Trigger a Hearing

Posted on April 12, 2008
Likewise among the unpublished opinions issued on Tuesday, a panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals held that a local housing authority was not required to hold a hearing if the agency decided not to use the services of a particular housing vendor in the future...

Blowing Through the Backlog

Posted on April 08, 2008
Showing the strength of the Minnesota Court of Appeals' compliment of new Judges, as well the vigor of some very able retired judges sitting now by designation, the Court today issued six published opinions, thirty-seven unpublished opinions and three order opinions...

We Were On a Break?.

Posted on April 07, 2008
Mindful that I have not posted case summaries here in nearly two weeks, I was reminded of one of the most divisive controversies of our age ? specifically, whether Ross and Rachel were completely broken up during Season 3 of Friends or merely ?on a break?...

Eighth Circuit: Ordinarily, State Highway Means State Regulatory Controls

Posted on April 07, 2008
In an interesting opinion issued on Friday, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that the Tribal Court of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians "lacked jurisdiction over a suit against a non-Indian, nonmember of the Tribe arising from an automobile accident on a state highway within the reservation...

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Habeas for the Rest of Us

Posted on March 26, 2008
Because habeas cases are generally only of interest to a small natural constituency ? most typically, inmates, jailers and lawyers with a genuine civil libertarian bent ? I cautiously include some description of yesterday's U.S. Supreme Court decision in Medellin v...

In Today?s Introductions

Posted on March 18, 2008
Senator Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing) today introduced a measure that would transfer the functions of the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board to the Legislative Auditor.The bill, S.F. 3783, has been referred to the Committee on State and Local Government Operations and Oversight, and is accessible here.

Eighth Circuit: Incontrovertible Proof Must Underlie Video Game Restriction

Posted on March 17, 2008
In an interesting opinion issued today, a unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld a lower court?s entry of an injunction barring the enforcement of Minnesota?s Restricted Video Games Act. Under the Act, a person under the age of 17 may not knowingly rent or purchase a video game that has been rated either ?AO? (Adults Only) or ?M? (Mature) by the Entertainment Software Rating Board...

Hail to the (New) Chiefs

Posted on March 17, 2008
In a press conference this morning, Governor Tim Pawlenty announced that he has appointed Eric J. Magnuson, Chairman of the Commission on Judicial Selection, as the Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Chairman Magnuson will succeed the Honorable Russell A...

Easy Listening ? The Week of March 10

Posted on March 14, 2008
Not having any decisions that I wanted to summarize for you, I thought that I would highlight a few of the podcasts that I am enjoying these days:n National Public Radio?s ?Justice Talking? Examines Election Law: The NPR Series ?Justice Talking? takes a look at the current debates over photo identification requirements for in-person voting and the reliability of electronic voting machines...

Right from the Top: Justices Speak About Quality Writing ? And Why it Matters

Posted on March 12, 2008
Bryan Garner, of LawProse, Inc., has released an unbelievably useful series of interviews with Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court on legal writing. (Eight of the nine sitting Justices are interviewed on the topic, with, apparently, Justice David Souter declining an invitation to be a part of this series...

Reading Table: 3 Worthwhile Additions

Posted on March 09, 2008
Among the Administrative Law articles posted to the Social Science Research Network this week are a trio of interesting items, any one of which would be worth some space on your reading table. The articles include:n Admin Law's Federalism: Preemption, Delegation, and Agencies at the Edge of Federal Power, from Professors Brian D...

Slim Fast for Fiscal Years '09, '10 and '11

Posted on March 08, 2008
Yesterday, Governor Tim Pawlenty unveiled his plan to address the state's projected $935 million deficit and to re-allign various budget categories. The plan addresses line items in the current 2008-2009 biennium and the "fiscal tails" for the "out years" of the next biennium...

Our Comma Delimited Social Compact

Posted on March 07, 2008
Ross E. Davies, Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, posted to the Social Science Research Network on Wednesday a fascinating article on the various versions of the Second Amendment that are in circulation ? notably historical versions of Second Amendment that contain no commas, one comma, two commas and three commas sub-dividing the constitutional text...

Ohio's Hourly Wage Requirement for Petition Circulators Struck Down

Posted on March 06, 2008
In an interesting opinion issued yesterday, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down an Ohio statute which provided that professional petition circulators could only be paid on an hourly basis.Because the appellant, Citizens for Tax Reform, was able to establish that the hourly wage requirement made it far more costly to produce the number of signatures needed to qualify a proposed constitutional amendment, when compared to paying petition circulators on either a per-signature or per-volume basis, the appellate panel held that the Ohio law unconstitutionally burdened political activity protected by the First Amendment...

Passing of the Mentor-in-Chief: William F. Buckley, Jr.

Posted on March 03, 2008
In the days that have followed his death last Wednesday, I have been taking in the tributes and eulogies that have been offered for the author and publisher William F. Buckley, Jr. Those remarking upon the passing of the Great Man have sung his praises and credited him with every conceivable honor ? including the election of Ronald Reagan and America?s winning of the Cold War...

The New Guy: Honorable Manuel J. Cervantes

Posted on February 28, 2008
Chief Administrative Law Judge Raymond R. Krause announced this morning that Manuel J. Cervantes has accepted a position as the new Administrative Law Judge with the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings.Cervantes, who now serves as an Assistant Attorney General in the Charities Division of the Attorney General's Office, has a wide background in government ? having formerly served as the St...

Senator?s Call for Common-Sense ? At First Amusing, But Quite Important

Posted on February 27, 2008
Who says that you can?t legislate common sense? Senator Don Betzold (DFL-Fridley) knows otherwise.In a bill (that will be among the introductions of Senate Files tomorrow) Senate File 3206, Senator Betzold proposes to modify the list of qualities that the Commission on Judicial Selection will search for when interviewing candidates to fill judicial vacancies...

New Form for Better Cost Estimates

Posted on February 27, 2008
The Inter-Agency Rules Committee ? the consortium (and support group) for state rule writers ? has just posted to the internet a new "Estimated Costs for Rulemaking Form." The form is handy checklist that permits agency personnel to guesstimate the amount of resources that it will require in order to complete various planned rulemaking projects...

Keeping Up with the High Court: Audio for Weekend Feather-Dusters

Posted on February 23, 2008
As Mrs. WTS has a lengthy to-do list of chores for me this weekend, I thought that the best thing was to load up my iPod with some handy audio on pending U.S. Supreme Court cases. And that earful is certain to keep me on task moving through the list ? and from receiving an earful of a very different sort...

Just the Help that ?Responsible Authorities? Need

Posted on February 22, 2008
The Information Policy Analysis Division of the Minnesota Department of Administration today released a updated (and very handy) set of checklists. The lists were designed to guide records management officials through all of the steps that are needed to build an effective data practices program...

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: The State Courts will be in Sharp Focus at the Capitol

Posted on February 22, 2008
On Monday of this coming week, Senator Moua (DFL-St. Paul) will introduce legislation proposing to expand the jurisdiction of the Commission on Judicial Selection to include the duty of making recommendations for filling appellate court vacancies. As it will be introduced, a copy of Senate File 3129 is accessible here...

I?m Rubber, You?re Glue: Preemption Cases Pivot on the Court, Congress Both Reading Case Law (and Reading it the Same Way....)

Posted on February 20, 2008
Issuing parallel opinions today, the U.S. Supreme Court sustained two challenges to state law requirements on the grounds that those requirements interfered with Congressional statutes regulating commercial activities.Among the interesting features of these two cases is the Justices? observation that the Congressional enactments at issue were best and most meaningfully understood against the backdrop of the Court?s earlier construction of similar terms, in other cases...

Senator Betzold Introduces a Measure to Address the Holding in Giem

Posted on February 19, 2008
As readers of these pages will recall, in December the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an opinion clarifying the meaning of the statutory deadlines for court proceedings under Minnesota?s Sexually Dangerous Person and Sexual Psychopathic Personality statutes...

On Originalism and Pragmatism: Daydreams for Presidents Day

Posted on February 18, 2008
Among the odd juxtapositions that occurs on this holiday honoring the Nation?s Presidents, is that today is likewise the 20th anniversary of the seating of Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, therefore, we are reminded that as powerful as Presidents are, their broader legacies are something that will, in part, be set by other men and women...

Autumn Playbook: William Mitchell Law Review Examines Election Administration

Posted on February 17, 2008
The latest issue of the William Mitchell Law Review, which is now available, explores a series of election administration issues in Minnesota and the broader nation. Beginning with a foreword from former Minnesota Congressman and Gubernatorial candidate, Tim Penny, this issue asserts that the improvements we have made to election administration during our history "are not inevitable...

Better than the Sunday Times: A Quiet Moment to Think about Delegations and Preemption by Congress

Posted on February 17, 2008
Among the items that have been posted recently to the Social Science Research Network are three articles that may be of interest to practitioners of Administrative Law. These articles, which provide a great opportunity to think about some of the broader landscape of our law, are:n Deadlines in Administrative Law, by Professors Jacob E...

Receipt of Agriculture Subsidies Prompts Public Disclosure of Farm Data

Posted on February 16, 2008
In an interesting opinion issued yesterday, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed a lower court ruling which shielded from public disclosure detailed information on the agricultural practices, acreage, soil, crops, livestock, and geographical location of farms owned by persons receiving agricultural subsidies from the Farm Service Agency (?FSA?)...

Minnesota Supreme Court Splits on Custody Credits

Posted on February 14, 2008
In an interesting opinion issued today, the Minnesota Supreme Court split 6 to 1 on the question of whether patients who are indefinitely committed to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, and who later commit crimes, are entitled to ?custody credits? for the days spent in confinement under the earlier civil commitment petition...

Today?s Bill Introductions Highlight Inquiries and Debates at the Legislature

Posted on February 14, 2008
Among the bills that were introduced today in the Minnesota House of Representatives were:H. F. 2911 (Atkins), A bill for an act relating to crime; establishing offenses involving the sale and purchase of event tickets.H. F. 2934 (Winkler), A bill for an act relating to courts; providing for a deferral from jury service for certain nursing mothers...

The Reach That is Needed for a Meaningful Remedy

Posted on February 12, 2008
In an important published decision issued today, a panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals held that the District Courts have the authority to direct the expungement of judicially-created records ? even if those records have been transferred to, and are held by, agencies in the Executive Branch...

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