Minnesota Legal Overview The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in Minnesota, comprised of a Chief Justice and six associate justices elected for six year terms. The Court of Appeals has 19 judges who sit in three-member appellate panels at statewide locations to hear appeals against District Court decisions and state agencies. The main trial court with general jurisdiction is the District Court, with each of the ten judicial districts covering one or more of the 87 counties. The Supreme Court directly takes appeals for election and first-degree murder cases, and those coming from the tax court and workers’ compensation court.
Top metro Minnesota areas for Legal Issues: Duluth-Superior
1. Capital punishment does not exist in Minnesota since the death penalty was abolished in 1911. In Near v. Minnesota (1931), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the freedom of the press under the First Amendment, as applied through the 14th Amendment. This led to the Nixon Administration's inability to suppress the Pentagon Papers in New York Times v. US (1971). In Bryan v. Itasca County (1976), the court ruled that a state had no right to tax a mobile home on an Indian reservation. In doing so, it set the grounds for unregulated activities on reservations such as Indian gaming casinos. 2. In Minnesota, supports filed a petition that claims Mark Ritchie, DFL Secretary of State, illegally altered a title to perplex voters. 3. The family of a 23-year-old student who was fatally wounded in a 2011 hit-and-run car crash is filing a lawsuit against a Minnesota bar.
Trending Minnesota Legal Topics: The Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) was established in 1883 as a voluntary organization. It has nearly 16,000 members, a majority of whom belong to the group of 23,360 odd lawyers and judges licensed to practice law in Minnesota. Bar exams are administered by the State Board of Law Examiners appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court. Judicial misconduct complaints have to be sent in writing to the office of the Board on Judicial Standards in Mendota Heights. |