(upbeat music) (music continues) (music continues) - Welcome to "Almanac North".

I'm Maarja Hewitt.

Tonight our civics conversations continue as we examine the role of judges in the Northland, have a conversation with a former State Associate Justice, and speak with candidates for Minnesota's 6th Judicial District.

That's up next on "Almanac North".

But first, on Tuesday the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, announced more than $420 million in awards across 32 states to remove lead hazards from homes and HUD-assisted properties, ensuring the safety of children, residents, and families.

This includes nearly $10 million to facilitate research on identifying and controlling lead and other housing-related hazards.

The Great Lakes region received over $77 million of this grant.

The announcement follows a slate of actions by the Biden-Harris administration to address lead hazards in America, including requiring drinking water systems nationwide to replace lead service lines within 10 years.

There's also an additional $2.6 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for drinking water upgrades and lead pipe replacement.

The Superior National Forest has closed the Cloquet River Bridge located on Forest Road 122-Langley River Road due to bridge integrity issues stemming from the June 18th, 2024 rain and flooding event.

"The center pier is scoured with about 75% undermining at the upstream end of the bridge footing," stated Preston Tripp, a civil engineer technician.

"The bridge is a continuous span and is at risk of sudden collapse."

Bridge scouring means that stream sediments such as sand or gravel from around the bridge and piers has been washed away by fast-flowing water, creating scour holes.

Hazards like these can cause a bridge collapse.

For safety, the bridge is closed to all traffic, including ATVs and UTVs and pedestrians, until repairs or replacements are completed.

Additional information about this and other flood-related closures is available online.

Please contact the Laurentian Ranger Office at 218-453-8650 for up-to-date project information.

Hunters can participate in an early antlerless-only deer season from Thursday, October 17th through Sunday, October 20th.

The season increases opportunities for hunters in deer permit areas where deer populations are above population goals or where there is an increased risk of chronic wasting disease.

Permit areas are those highlighted in blue on the map.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources offers this opportunity to hunters to manage local deer herds.

The bag limit is three antlerless deer, and deer taken during the early antlerless-only season do not count against the statewide bag limit or the deer permit area bag limit.

Youth may not take antlerless deer or illegal bucks taken by another individual.

Before participating, hunters should review the specific license and permit requirements of Minnesota hunting and trapping regulations.

Hunters can check the chronic wasting disease sampling options and carcass movement restrictions for the deer permit areas where they hunt on the Minnesota DNR website.

Well, as our series on civics continues, tonight we're going to be focusing on judge races in the region.

Our first guest this evening is Former Minnesota Associate Supreme Court Justice, G. Barry Anderson.

Welcome to the show.

- Delighted to be here.

- Let's start with a walkthrough of your journey to becoming a judge and then ultimately a Minnesota Associate Supreme Justice.

- So that career begins graduating from Gustavus Adolphus College.

I went to University of Minnesota Law School, practiced first in Fairmont, then in Hutchinson.

Had a general law practice there, served as a city attorney and worked with other clients.

And then from there, I was one of Governor Carlson's last appointments to the Court of Appeals, and then one of Governor Pawlenty's first appointments to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

About 25 years in the judiciary, and then retired this past May 10, approaching mandatory retirement for judges in Minnesota at age 70.

Didn't have anything else to do, so when you called, (Maarja laughing) I was delighted to come up here and talk to both you and everyone here in the Northland about judges and judicial elections.

- We're grateful to have you here.

What drew you to the field of law, and what did you find fulfilling from your career?

- Well, as a young person, you know, we then it called junior high school.

I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a trial lawyer, I wanted to be in courtrooms.

I had the opportunity to do that.

Of course, as is always the case, the experience is somewhat different than what you think the world is going to provide to you at age 14 or 15.

Lots of unanticipated adventures that kind of shaped me.

And the whole experience was, I think, very worthwhile.

No complaints.

Did not anticipate becoming a judge.

Certainly never anticipated becoming a Supreme Court justice, but so it was and so it has been, and I'm delighted to have had the career I've had.

- So you spent two decades on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

What sort of cases did you preside over?

And in general, what sort of cases go in front of the Supreme Court?

- So our court is a terminal court for both civil and criminal matters, and also for matters coming out of the executive branch, which would be the tax and workers' comp courts principally, plus some other kinds of things that the court may deal with.

There is an appeal on federal matters from our court to the United States Supreme Court.

Very few of those cases actually go that direction.

In my 20 years, it was maybe a handful, less than 10, probably, that went to the United States Supreme Court.

And we would handle probably somewhere in the neighborhood of, we'd issue about 100 opinions a year.

I always say the district court judges that serve the people in the Northland here are the ones doing the heavy lifting in the judicial system.

Our judges across the state of Minnesota, 296 judges serving in 87 counties, will decide something in the neighborhood of 800,000 matters where a judge has to be involved.

You know, we'll issue about 100 opinions.

So you can argue that our opinions are important.

We think they're important.

But the reality is for you and me, when we have a legal matter, most likely it's going to be in a district court before one of those 296 district court judges.

- And so in Minnesota, justices are appointed, but then have to go up for election to retain their seat.

- All judges in Minnesota are treated the same.

We all can be either appointed or elected.

Our court has said in numerous opinions that one preference, neither system is preferred over the other.

As a practical matter, probably 90% of our judges are appointed first.

You have a vacancy in the 9th Judicial District now where, because of retirement, it's an open seat.

And you have candidates who have filed to fill that seat.

That's permitted under our constitution and, you know, has occurred multiple times before.

As a practical matter, what happens with most vacancies is a judicial selection commission recommends candidates to the governor and the governor selects from that list.

Not required to, but as a matter of practice, matter of norms, governors have typically done that.

- What are your thoughts on judicial elections?

Do you think it helps accountability?

- Well, this is something that I think the voters have to decide.

Minnesota has had judicial elections from 1858 when we first became a state.

It was a priority for many people who participated in our constitutional convention.

They were unhappy with the Dred Scott decision.

At least one of the reasons for having judicial elections is they wanted to have the ability to hire and, if necessary, fire judges.

There are arguments that run both ways.

In the limited time we have this evening, probably not enough time to sort of unpack all of that.

There are good arguments on both sides of this question.

The federal system has a lot of things to recommend it, but one of the problems with the federal system is the voters don't have a role in terms of suggesting to a judge that perhaps he or she should seek different career opportunities.

So yeah, it's a conversation worth having.

- Yeah, and we could continue this conversation, I think, all night.

Learning so much here.

One final question.

For voters looking at judicial candidates, what are some qualities you think they should be looking at?

- Well, I think the principal advice that I would offer to people who are, and is a question I got as a practicing lawyer 40 years ago, which was, "All these judges on the ballot, I don't know anything about 'em.

What do I do about that?"

There are relatively few contested judicial races, but where there is a contested judicial race, what I recommend to people is take some time to, and this is actually easier today than it was 40 years ago, which is you go to the website of the candidates and you see what their backgrounds are.

And you see, do you think that that background's going to be really helpful in serving as a judge?

You know, experience counts, broad experience counts, community service counts.

All of these are things that the public can be looking at in terms of evaluating whether or not to vote for a particular candidate.

And it's your decision.

It's your right under our constitution to select a candidate when there is a contested race like this.

And you should do your homework and pick the candidate that you like the best.

- Great insight.

Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

- Delighted to be here.

Good luck to everyone.

And I will just say this about the Minnesota judiciary.

I think that it has served the people of the state of Minnesota well, and I anticipate that will continue.

(bright music) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) - Up next, we are joined by Itasca County Attorney, Jake Fauchald.

Jake, thank you for joining us.

- Thank you.

- Maybe you could give us a little background of how you got into the legal field and now as the county attorney of Itasca County.

- Yeah, no, I'm from Grand Rapids originally.

I got my law degree at William Mitchell in St. Paul.

After that, I honed my practice and skills, so to speak, in Fargo for a few years before I had the opportunity to move back to Grand Rapids and worked as a public defender there for a little while, and then in the county attorney's office.

And now I've found myself as the county attorney in Grand Rapids through a unexpected series of events.

But I'm very happy to be in this position and it's really felt to me like I've achieved what I set out to do when I wanted to become a lawyer, which is to be in my hometown and to be a positive contributor and community leader there.

- So this episode is on judges and the importance of judges.

In your day-to-day as a county attorney, what is it like collaborating with judges and how you work with them?

- Yeah, certainly.

And it's different with every judge.

And every county, most counties have multiple judges.

And you would expect that in any county, you would see consistent results from all of those judges.

But more often than not, the judges have some of their own ideas with justice.

And as an attorney, particularly in my field, as someone who's in court basically every day, it's really adapting to understand what each individual judge's expectations are.

They have every right to exercise discretion in how they individually interpret the law.

And as the attorney, it's their duty to present their case in a way that's going to be compatible with that particular judge's view of procedurally how things should go.

So it is a challenge, but when you build those bonds with judges and understand what their expectations are, we achieve good results overall.

- What would you say are key qualities that most judges should have?

- Certainly patience.

The judges, they're under a lot of stress.

They're always dealing with high volumes of cases.

And I think the judges that are most successful are ones that work through things patiently.

They don't make rash decisions.

That they listen to what the lawyers who are presenting arguments to them are saying and give it actual thought rather than going into any case with their own notions of what the outcomes should be without taking heed of what the attorneys before them are saying.

And so I think patience is a big part of that.

But then also listening to their colleagues in law around them, and listening to their arguments and reflecting on those.

- You touched on this briefly, but what is the dynamic like between the judge and a county attorney?

- I mean, we work in an adversarial process, and typically that means between like, the prosecution and the defense.

But sometimes we will butt heads with judges because the position of the county will sometimes differ than what the judge thinks that the outcome of a case should be, even though there's no disagreement as to what the facts of a case are.

It's simply a different interpretation of the law, which can really have a tremendous impact in a lot of cases.

So I like to think that it's a positive working relationship between myself as the county attorney and the judges in my district.

Because we're working to achieve the same outcomes.

We're working to ensure public safety, to ensure the best interests of children are met, that the Constitution is upheld.

We're working towards those same goals.

It's just sometimes differences in how we get there, those come up from time to time.

- So when voters are looking at the candidates on a judicial election ballot, what should they be researching or kind of how should they be gauging these candidates?

- Yeah, I think it's important to understand not only a judge's professional background, but what their personal background is too.

And if they're familiar to the area, if they've been practicing here for a while, if they understand the nuances of what it means to practice in this particular judicial district or the county itself.

I think that that's important.

It's important for voters to understand that the responsibilities of a judge are so vast that it's difficult to say that any one particular career experience is a good indicator for, you know, that this is gonna be a good judge.

So in many ways it's really difficult for voters to have to dig in and do some of that research and figure things out.

But those are some of the qualities they need to look for.

- Jake, thank you for joining us and offering all your insight.

- Certainly, thank you.

- Next on "Almanac North", I'm joined by Attorney Shawn Reed, who is one of the candidates for the Minnesota 6th Judicial District seat.

Shawn, welcome to "Almanac North".

- Thank you for having me, Maarja.

- So why'd you decide to run for this judicial seat?

- Well, I've been an attorney in the Duluth area for 27 years, and all of those 27 years I've been in courts nearly daily.

So I know how important it is to have someone with experience to fill that seat.

And so that's really why I decided to throw my hat into the ring, so I can be ready and help people on the very first day.

Because it's so important you have someone that has actually been in court regularly.

- What are some unique challenges that northern Minnesota faces in this district?

- Well, I think one of the big things that we face, and I think this is probably even beyond the northern Minnesota area, one of the things is representation or access to justice.

And that covers kind of two different things.

One, for example, is the access for public defenders.

The qualification levels are so terribly low, so to qualify, it doesn't take much to get beyond the income requirements.

So we got a lot of people that are what we call like, working poor, working paycheck to paycheck that simply can't afford an attorney.

And if you can't afford a public defender, then you either have to go out and hire one privately or you have to represent yourself.

Same thing can be said with respect to civil matters.

So if you're trying to represent yourself, trying to hire an attorney is terribly difficult sometimes.

There's some movements within the United States for like a civil Gideon project, Gideon versus Wainwright, which gave us the public defender system.

They're trying to do something like that for civil projects as well, or civil cases.

And so that's one issue is access to justice.

- And if elected, how do you plan to make a positive impact?

- Well, I think to make a positive impact, it's all in the way you communicate with people.

You need to be open, you need to make sure that you're listening to people, you need to make sure that people, when they come into the court, they feel that they've been heard.

'Cause not everyone's gonna be able to win their case, obviously, but if people believe that they've been heard, maybe a little bit of justice can be achieved.

I've been in courts where I've followed people walk out and where a judge has taken a moment to take some time, either during the case or immediately after and just say, you know, express some personal interest in what they just encountered or what they might have said.

And I've heard people talking amongst themselves as they leave the courtroom, saying, "I've never had a judge talk to me like that before."

And it's that type of open communication and giving people the chance to feel like they've been heard is so important.

And that's what I would like to bring to the courts is that type of communication.

- Is there anything else you'd like to add?

- Well, we got an election coming up here on November 5th.

Wanna make sure everyone will go out and vote.

The judicial office is on the backside of the ballot, so make sure you flip that ballot over 'cause we're located on the very bottom, I think below the Soil and Water Office.

So don't judge the office based off the location.

But start there.

Go vote for your judges on November 5th.

- Thank you for joining us tonight.

- Thank you so much.

- Well, earlier this week our "Almanac North" team met with Minnesota 6th Judicial District Candidate Gunnar Johnson to answer the same questions.

Let's take a look.

- [Interviewer] Why did you decide to run for this position?

- Yeah, that's an excellent question.

I have been an attorney in the 6th Judicial District for about 30 years.

And I have been in public practice and in private practice.

And I have found what has been the most rewarding for me as an attorney is my time in public service.

And I see this position as an opportunity to return to public service and to give back to our community by bringing my experience in the law back to the community as a judge for our district.

- [Interviewer] Would you like to add anything else to that?

You have a little bit more time left.

- Yeah, I think I would like to add a little bit more.

I have been, like I said, an attorney for many years in the district.

I was the Duluth City Attorney for 12 years.

During that time, we did a lot of things like bring down the Last Place on Earth.

I have been with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office, working up on the Iron Range of Minnesota, doing economic development and litigation in our district for the state.

And I am currently in private practice as the City Attorney for Hermantown, as well as being an attorney for other local governmental agencies like the Cloquet Area Fire District is another client of mine.

- [Interviewer] Our second question is, what are some unique challenges that northern Minnesota faces in this district?

- Yes, so one of the things I do in my current role is I am a hearing officer for the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Duluth.

And in that role, I hear cases much like the district court does, where people have, there's a dispute between the HRA and some of their tenants.

They then bring that to the court, which is me, the hearing officer.

And there are a lot of unique things that come up, but some of the more challenging are people that have mental health issues, that have addiction issues, that have issues with poverty or that choose to represent themselves as opposed to having an attorney that represents them.

And so, as the hearing officer or the judge for those types of cases, I have to take it very slowly, make sure that the people understand the process and that I hear their unique story.

And then one of the other things that I try to do as judge is make sure that I write my decision in a way that is understandable for a lawyer, but also understandable for everybody involved in the process.

- [Interviewer] And then the last question I have for you.

If elected, how do you plan to make a positive impact in your district?

- Well, I'm gonna do the same thing that I've done for the last 30 years.

I'm gonna work very hard.

I am going to make sure that I listen to people, that I take my time, and do things carefully and I follow the law.

That I listen to both parties in a dispute, gather the facts, and then apply the law as it's dictated by our state legislature or by the courts above me to the case and issue a decision that is fair and practical and works under the law.

And that's what I'm gonna bring to this role as your judge for the 6th Judicial District of northeastern Minnesota.

- [Interviewer] All right, you've got about 25 seconds left if there's anything else you want to add.

- Yeah, so I just want to talk a little bit about, that I think it's important that the court holds people accountable under the law and that we apply the law fairly and without distinction based on background or, it's important that every person is unique and the court hears those unique stories and applies them to the law that is the law of our land.

- Before we go, let's take a look at what you might be up to this weekend.

This Saturday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at Shannon Stained Glassery in South Superior is the Fall Back to Glass Open House Art Show with a theme of Vacation.

Along with the art show will be a storewide sale, crates of glass, door prizes, and more.

There are a pair of spooky events to bring your family to this Saturday.

First is Boo at the Zoo from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Lake Superior Zoo.

And also Saturday from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM is Trunk or Treat at Bay View Elementary in Duluth.

And finally on Sunday is Painting with Peg at Three Twenty Brewing in Superior.

Join Peg Skalicky for spooky-themed acrylic painting on Sunday, October 13th from 1:00 to 3:00 PM.

All supplies are included, just bring your imagination.

More information is available online.

That's it for this week's show.

Make sure you go out and enjoy your weekend.

For everyone here at "Almanac North", I'm Maarja Hewitt.

Thank you for joining us.

Goodnight.

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