Good morning, and welcome to Tuesday.
The judge who presided over former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial last year says that ensuring racial justice in the courts is key to preserving public confidence in the American legal system.MPR’s Matt Sepic has the story: At a conference in Nevada on Monday, Peter Cahill offered candid advice to his colleagues on managing high-profile cases. Among other things, he urged his fellow judges to find ways to manage stress, keep comments from the bench to a minimum and stay off of Twitter. A Hennepin County District judge since 2007, Cahill said “equal justice under the law,” a phrase inscribed on the walls of courthouses, remains more a goal than an accomplishment. But pursuing that goal is critical to ensuring that Americans trust the judicial system, he emphasized. “I think we’re getting better. But we are a far cry from being able to say we’ve done it, and rest on our laurels.”
The Star Tribune has a look at Jim Schultz, the Republican challenging DFL Attorney General Keith Ellison.From the story: Republicans have high hopes that Schultz will unseat Ellison in November and reverse a long, statewide losing streak for the Minnesota GOP. The South Haven, Minn., native and Harvard Law School graduate's crime focus appears to be resonating with voters as polls show him within striking distance of toppling the incumbent. Ellison and his supporters have sought to cast Schultz as being inexperienced to the point of unqualified, noting the Attorney General's Office can only take on criminal cases at the request of county prosecutors. Critics also doubt Schultz's pledge to be an apolitical attorney general, citing his past statements on abortion and LGBTQ issues.
By the way, I’ll be moderating a debate between Schultz and Ellison at noon on Friday on MPR News. What questions do you have for the candidates?
Early voting numbers are below where they were two years ago.MinnPost has the story: Local elections offices have accepted 49,575 ballots in the first two weeks of early voting and mail voting. By this time in 2020, more than six times as many pre-Election-Day ballots – 336,017 – had been accepted for processing, according to numbers released Friday by the Minnesota secretary of state. The difference? The COVID-19 pandemic was in its early months and vaccines wouldn’t start rolling out until December 2020. A public and nonprofit campaign to encourage and facilitate mail ballot applications took place that election, efforts that would ultimately lead to 58 percent of the vote being cast at home or at early voting sites, rather than at the polls on Election Day.
Republican candidate for governor Scott Jensen expanded on his ideas about abortion.The Minnesota Daily interviewed Jensen who said, “We should have birth control pills over the counter. We should put a ceiling cap on them, perhaps $10 per month. We should have available and ready access to Plan B or the morning-after pill. We should have paid maternity leave for women who have children. We should have streamlining of adoption. So that if parents decide to go in that direction, they know that there’s support. We should have harsher penalties for crimes that target women such as rape and robbery and carjacking. This is an opportunity for the pro-life movement to say we are going to stand up for women and try to truly protect and support them.”
A final look at Minnesota’s finances ahead of the election shows tax revenues are still outpacing projections but the news comes with a warning of a recession. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports the update from the Department of Minnesota Management and Budget covers activity from July through September. It found that tax receipts were a combined $289 million ahead of estimates, which is about 4 percent higher. Corporate and sales taxes drove the added collections, but there’s reason to believe the tide is changing. The outlook for continued economic growth has weakened to the point where the state’s financial consultant believes a recession will hit this year and linger into next year. The pessimism stems from continued inflation, the Federal Reserve’s steady increase in interest rates and a sputtering stock market. Minnesota lawmakers failed to agree on what to do with a massive budget surplus last year and there is a substantial rainy day reserve that could mitigate declines in state revenue.
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