Good morning. Expect plenty of attention on the courts this week.

The jury is set and opening statements are about to begin in the criminal trial of a former president. Barring something unexpected – and with Donald Trump the unexpected can be the norm – attorneys for the prosecution and defense will present very different pictures  of how Trump dealt with potentially damaging claims of an affair with an adult film actress coming to light just ahead of the 2016 election. Charges say he illegally paid to keep the matter quiet; Trump’s team insists it was a private transaction and no crime was committed. Either way, it’s likely to keep the 2024 presumptive Republican nominee tethered to a courtroom perhaps into June. 

Another case of great local significance moves into its trial phase today. The first of many federal defendants go on trial in the Feeding Our Future nutrition fraud case. MPR’s Matt Sepic writes the entire ordeal involves “70 defendants using 19 separate indictments and other charging documents.” He said seven will face a jury starting this week. They face counts including wire fraud and money laundering. They’re accused of defrauding the Summer Food Service and Child and Adult Care Food programs, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture has operated since the late 1960s. Prosecutors allege the defendants stole more than $47 million in taxpayer money over an 18-month period, laundered it through shell companies, and used it to pay for vehicles, real estate and luxury travel.

Gov. Tim Walz is due to make a pair of picks to the state Supreme Court today. Associate Justice G. Barry Anderson is retiring next month, the last Republican appointee on the highest court. The governor is set to name Anderson's replacement. Walz will also fill the seat of Justice Margaret Chutich, an appointee of former Gov. Mark Dayton. She’s leaving the bench in July. Walz, who has named two justices so far and elevated another to the chief justice role, will have now named a majority of the court. He interviewed several finalists last week, including judges who currently sit on lower courts.

Speaking of Justice Anderson, he’s lined up to be a guest on this week’s Politics Friday. He’s been a fixture of the judiciary for decades and is otherwise immersed in public policy. So tune in for that!

On last week’s episode of the show, cannabis was a big focus. Jim Rowader, executive director of the new Cannabis Expungement Board, said that body will hold its inaugural meeting on May 14. He said it could take five years to get through the tens of thousands of felony-level convictions that might elicit record-sealing or resentencing. A staff of 35 to 40 people is in the works, and the process and prioritization plan for cases to be reviewed earliest is also top on the to-do list. Meanwhile, an expert in marijuana cultivation urged patience by the public and expressed skepticism that an early 2025 goal for broad retail sales will pan out. Hear the episode here.

One of the things that will be debated in the final weeks of the Legislature: Electronics recycling and who should pay for it.MPR’s Kirsti Marohn says lawmakers are discussing an update to Minnesota's current electronics waste law, which was passed back in 2007 — the year the first iPhone was released. It focuses mainly on televisions and computers. The bill would cover 100 percent of electronic waste, and make recycling electronics free for all Minnesotans. To fund the program, it would add a 3.2 percent retail fee on most electronic items when they are sold. Cell phones would have a flat 90-cent fee. The fee is what is sure to cause the most consternation and could hold the bill back this year.

St. Cloud will elect a new mayor this year. Longtime incumbent Dave Kleis announced last week he won’t stand for another term. He was elected and re-elected five times and served about two decades in the job. Kleis was a Republican state senator before that but was known as mayor to work with both parties. He also gained attention for marathon ask-the-mayor sessions.

We don’t link to many op-ed or commentary style pieces in this newsletter, but one in the Star Tribune about Rep. Jim Nash is notable. In D.J. Tice’s column in the Star Tribune, he details the personal struggle that Nash had with child abuse and how that informs his push for firmer protection practices. It reminds us that legislators are imperfect, have pasts that might not easily match their public persona and bring their life experiences to the Capitol. After all, that’s what a citizen legislature is all about. "Anything we can do to make the type of abuse I took as a kid more rare would be great," Nash told Tice. "But I think this is best done a couple bills at a time, a couple bites at a time. And I'm willing to be a leader in that and work with anyone who's willing."