Gaertner cancels the RNC 8’s ‘furtherance of terrorism’ charges as case continues

by Staff
Published: April 9,2009
Time posted: 1:00 am
Tags: 2008 Republican National Convention, press release, RNC Welcoming Committee, Susan Gaertner


In today’s Star Tribune, Ramsey County Attorney and 2010 DFL gubernatorial candidate Susan Gaertner editorialized about how the court system is stretched too thin to carry out its role dispensing justice. Then Paul Demko reported this morning that Gaertner’s office would soon drop 16 charges carrying "furtherance of terrorism" enhancements against the "RNC 8," a group that helped organize demonstrations against last year’s Republican National Convention.

The RNC 8 now still face another 16 charges total,including conspiracy to riot and conspiracy to commit property damage. The controversy has dogged Gaertner’s gubernatorial campaign, though she said in this week’s RNC8 MinnPost feature by Sharon Schmickle that the prosecution hardly benefits her efforts.

Nonetheless, by dropping the most controversial charges, Gaertner may ease the frustrations of DFL activists while downsizing the prosecution effort. Recently Gaertner received a "drop the charges" petition just before a big RNC 8 supporter bike ride, which attracted a heavy presence of police from both Minneapolis and St. Paul. An Indymedia video of these events shows ride participants and the petition crew getting videotaped and photographed, though it’s unclear if this "intelligence" got added to the RNC "active investigation" that continues to this day.

In last week’s PIM Weekly Report, we observed that the "furtherance of terrorism" law was an odd legislative product of the post-9/11 session, included in the major public safety omnibus and policy bill in the spring of 2002. Gaertner has frequently pointed her finger at the Legislature for creating this law, maintaining until today that she was bound to enforce it.

Below the fold: More on the origin of "furtherance of terrorism" and dueling press releases from Gaertner and Friends of the RNC 8.

From last week’s PIM Weekly Report: Classic conference committee construction of the RNC 8’s new alleged crime: "Furtherance of Terrorism"

Brock Hunter of the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers points out that criminal defense attorneys are trying to knock down a bizarre, virtually unknown provision passed as part of Minnesota’s 2002 omnibus public safety bill, also known as the "Minnesota Patriot Act." Incredibly, the law makes any allegedly premeditated felony–including more than $1000 worth of property damage–eligible for the add-on charge of "furtherance of terrorism." This is the law that Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner employed in piling terrorism charges on the so-called RNC 8 last year.

The bill (at the end, HF 2622) took a classic odd path through the Legislature. In an obscure conference committee, a uniquely expansive definition of "furtherance of terrorism" got initiated without any public debate. The April 26-May 3, 2002 Session Weekly contained the only trace of public debate of the measure: "[Hilary] Caliguiri [from AG's office] said she was troubled by the use of the phrase ‘considerable number’ of people in the definition of crimes committed in the furtherance of terrorism. She didn’t know, she said, how many people are included in a considerable number." No one except former legislator and current Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek has stuck up for the merits of the law since the RNC.

Today, the RNC 8 defendants find themselves facing a 50 percent "furtherance of terrorism" sentence enhancement on top of "conspiracy to commit riot" and "conspiracy to commit property damage" charges. The vague definition of "furtherance of terrorism" under Minnesota law has led defense attorneys to fear that a wide variety of defendants could get stuck with the charge, and now they’ve been lobbying this session to undo the law.

Historically, Minnesota has had a rich tradition of creating anti-labor "terrorism" laws–in particular the 1913 Criminal Syndicalism act, which was pulled from the dustbin during 1986 state efforts to break the Hormel strike, as documented by Macalester Professor of History Peter Rachleff’s "Hard-Pressed in the Heartland: The Hormel Strike and the Future of the Labor Movement."

Here’s today’s press release from Gaertner, courtesy of MPR:

OFFICE OF THE RAMSEY COUNTY ATTORNEY Susan Gaertner, County Attorney
50 West Kellogg Boulevard, Suite 315, St. Paul, MN 55102-1657
Telephone 651-266-3079 Fax 651-266-3015
NEWS RELEASE April 8, 2009 Contact: 651-266-3322

[Print] [Email] [RSS Feed] [Digg] [Facebook] [MySpace] [StumbleUpon] More »



POST A COMMENT

SIGN UP FOR THE MORNING REPORT

Email: