Judicial Branch: Interpreting the Law
PART 7
"There is hardly a political question in the United States which does not sooner or later
turn into a judicial one."
-- Alexis de Tocqueville, French statesman and author, 1805-1859.
BACKGROUND
Imagine driving down a winding road with a map that has a fairly clear picture of the state. Then
imagine seven people -- all wearing black robes -- in the back seat who collectively have the
power to decide that one road, or several, are no longer safe to travel.
The driver in this analogy, of course, is the Minnesota Legislature -- the chief architect of the
varied legal avenues that have been charted in Minnesota. And the people in the robes comprise
the Minnesota Supreme Court, which can determine whether the laws are safe -- from a
constitutional standpoint -- to travel. When passing laws, legislators are continually looking over
their shoulders at the courts and wondering how Minnesota Supreme Court justices would view a
law. These seven people ultimately determine whether a law passed by the Legislature violates
the Minnesota Constitution.
The car-backseat driver analogy would probably be lost on Alexis de Tocqueville, who wrote
in the 19th century. But his poignant observation still has merit today. During debates at the
Legislature, hardly a day passes, it seems, when one lawmaker or another doesn't question the
constitutionality of a proposed law.
In 1986, for example, several representatives wondered whether a controversial Ofetal death"
bill would hold up in court. And in 1987, there was discussion about whether a bill requiring the
Amish to display the orange, slow-moving vehicle triangle would violate the Amish right to
freely practice their religion. Here's a brief discussion of those two laws passed by the Legislature
and the court's subsequent interpretation of them.
Fetal death law
Following a Ramsey County case in which an 8-1/2-month-old fetus was killed in an auto
accident, the Legislature passed a law that established several crimes of murder when a fetus is
killed. Because there was no such statute at the time of the accident, the judge in the case
dismissed the charge of killing the fetus.
The concern at the Legislature was that the Minnesota fetal death law, which is said to be the
most stringent in the nation, protected all fetuses -- not just ones that are Oviable" (sometimes
defined as more than 20 weeks old).
Just two years after the bill was approved and signed into law, the fetal death law was
challenged in court by a man who was accused of killing a woman and her four-week-old
embryo. Sean Patrick Merrill of Rochester argued that he was denied equal protection under the
law because he was accused of killing a fetus that wasn't viable. Merrill said that women who
seek abortions essentially do the same thing and aren't charged with a crime, so he shouldn't be
charged either. The Minnesota Constitution states that everyone should be treated equally by the
law.
But after several court battles, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the fetal-death law,
ruling that the two situations are not similar because the person who assaults a pregnant woman
kills the fetus without the woman's consent.
After the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, Merrill admitted killing the woman
and her embryo and pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.
So, in this case, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld a law that was approved by the
Legislature.
Minnesota Amish
The Minnesota Supreme Court, however, doesn't always rule in favor of a law the Legislature
approves. Take a bill approved by the Legislature that was tailored for the Amish living in
southeastern Minnesota.
The law permitted the Amish, some of whom object on religious grounds to the orange,
slow-moving vehicle emblem, to affix a dull, black triangle to the back of their horse-drawn
buggies during the day. But the law specified that the orange triangle had to be displayed at night
and during inclement weather.
Some of the Amish refused to abide by the law, arguing that it infringes on their
constitutional right to freedom of religious expression. Some of the plain-living Amish, who
shun the use of bright colors, maintained that the orange triangle was a "worldly symbol." The
Amish place a high priority on remaining separate and distinct from the rest of society.
In a unanimous opinion, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the Amish position, and ruled
that they cannot be forced to follow the sign law.
The court said that although the state has a compelling public safety interest which the sign
law serves, a less restrictive alternative (silver reflective tape and red lanterns) is available. The
law as it applies to the Amish is invalid, the court ruled.
So, in this case, the Minnesota Supreme Court struck down a law that was approved by the
Legislature, and the law was subsequently removed from the statute books.
Although the judiciary and the legislature are two separate branches of government, it's easy
to see how intertwined they can become.
Court structure
The courts in Minnesota are broken down into three basic levels: district court, the Minnesota
Court of Appeals, and the Minnesota Supreme Court, the highest state court in Minnesota. A case
typically originates on the district court level and can be appealed to successively higher levels
all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court -- provided the higher courts agree to hear the case, which
they don't always do. The Minnesota Supreme Court, for example, hears only about 5 percent of
the requested appeals arising from decisions of the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The Court of
Appeals is required to consider all
appeals from the district court
level.
District court
There are 241 district court judges working across Minnesota, which is divided into 10 judicial
districts. District court judges hear a variety of different types of cases, ranging from felony
criminal cases to divorce hearings, and from disputes between landlord and tenant to lawsuits
between people involved in car accidents.
District court judges are elected to six-year terms, but they are usually first appointed to the
position by the governor when a judicial vacancy occurs. Decisions from district court can be
appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. However, when a person is convicted of
first-degree murder in a district court, the decision is automatically appealed to the Minnesota
Supreme Court.
Minnesota Court of Appeals
This court was created in 1983 to relieve the burden on the Minnesota Supreme Court. The Court
of Appeals is broken down into rotating, three-judge panels that travel throughout Minnesota to
hear appeals from the state's district courts. The Court of Appeals meets regularly in the
following cities: Anoka, Bemidji, Duluth, Hibbing, Litchfield, Minneapolis, Moorhead, New
Ulm, Owatonna, Rochester, St. Paul, and Shakopee. Court of Appeals judges are also elected to
six-year terms, but the governor generally appoints them whenever a vacancy occurs. The
governor also appoints the chief judge of the appeals panel. The court currently has 16
members.
Minnesota Supreme Court
The seven-member court hears appeals from the Minnesota Court of Appeals, but it also hears
many other cases directly. All first-degree murder convictions are automatically reviewed by the
Minnesota Supreme Court, as are decisions from the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals
and Tax Court. These two courts are really part of the executive branch and specialize in
particular areas of the law. In addition, disputes arising from legislative elections are heard
directly by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
The state Supreme Court also makes rules for all of the state's courts and decides when
attorneys should be disciplined. Members of the Supreme Court are referred to as
justices rather than judges. They, too, are
elected to six-year terms, although the governor has the authority to fill a vacancy whenever it
occurs. The governor also appoints the chief justice.
Federal court system
The federal court system operates separately from the Minnesota court system and normally
doesn't concern itself with Minnesota laws. Instead, it hears cases where there is an alleged
violation of federal law, where there is a question about the U.S. Constitution, or where there is a
lawsuit between citizens of two states that involves more than $50,000.
In Minnesota, the federal district court holds hearings in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth.
Decisions can be appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which, in turn, can be
appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
So the U.S. Supreme Court can hear appeals from several sources: any of the 11 federal
circuit court of appeals and any of the state supreme courts, such as the Minnesota Supreme
Court.
NEW TERMS
- appeal: a resort to a higher court from a lower one.
- justice: a title given to judges, usually to those who serve on
the U.S. or state supreme courts.
- judge: a person who presides over a court.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
Beginning
Choose a controversial law passed by the Minnesota Legislature and discuss its
ramifications. Should some people who throw parties in their homes where alcohol is served be
held liable for damages in certain cases? The Legislature, in 1990, left the door open a crack for
these types of lawsuits to be brought. For more information on this law and others passed in
1990, see Appendix E-6. This could provide some ideas to generate class discussions.
Intermediate
As part of the mock legislature, a student could pose as a district court judge, or a group of
students could preside as the Minnesota Supreme Court. The student or students could then
decide whether a law was constitutional. Although the state Supreme Court is the court of last
resort for interpreting laws under the Minnesota Constitution, it's probably easier for students to
use the U.S. Constitution as their guide. The U.S. Constitution is probably more familiar to
students and is often included in a section of an ordinary dictionary. If the question of
constitutionality is too difficult to decide, the debate could be limited to whether the law is
simply good or bad.
Advanced
Select a controversial law that has been passed by the Legislature which has subsequently
been challenged in court such as the laws addressing fetal death and the Amish. Then, obtain the
court's decision on the law, whether it's from a district court, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, or
the Minnesota Supreme Court. This information could be used for the final chapter in the
backtracking-a-bill exercise. Daily newspapers are a good source for these types of court cases.
As was mentioned before, Minnesota laws and laws from other states are often challenged on
constitutional grounds.
Introduction
Previous Chapter
Terms