Daily Digest: Hard questions from the justices
Good morning, and welcome to Tuesday. Based on the days of my youth when school started the day after Labor Day, I hereby declare that the last week of summer has begun. With that happy thought in mind, here's the Digest.
1. Members of the Minnesota Supreme Court posed tough questions Monday to lawyers on both sides of the dispute between DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republican-controlled Legislature over Dayton's line-item vetoes. Dayton had appealed a lower court's decision that said his move to cut spending for the House and Senate was unconstitutional and declared his vetoes "null and void." The wide-ranging questions from the justices brought up everything from the Federalist Papers to state and federal court cases. They came down to whether Dayton had the power to cut spending for another branch of government and whether the Legislature had any recourse short of taking the matter to court. There's no word on when a decision might come down. (MPR News)
2. More from the Pioneer Press: At some points justices interrupted each other in asking questions, built upon and tore down their colleagues’ inquiries and spun off so many hypothetical scenarios both attorneys seemed to cry uncle in their responses. If a governor could veto an entire bill that contained legislative funding, why is it any different if this governor was more surgical? Would it be permissible to veto legislative funding, if the Legislature were still in session and could override the veto? (Pioneer Press)
3. If the first day of the State Fair is any indication, Minnesota's two DFL U.S. Senators are pretty popular. For Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, every day might be a beautiful day at the fair, rain or shine. Following the two Minnesota Democrats around the fair in 2017 is to be in the wake of sustained earnestness from fairgoers — thanking them for their “service” and “work” in this age of President Trump — with nary a heckle in earshot. (MinnPost)
4. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said it could be months before his office decides whether charges will be filed against the Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot Justine Ruszczyk Damond last month. "We have received some e-mails and phone calls from members of the community demanding that we charge the officer immediately and ascribing all kinds of nefarious reasons as to why we haven't done so," Freeman said in a statement detailing where the case stands. "The truth is, we are following the same procedure we have with the three previous officer-involved shootings." Freeman added he has "no way of knowing how long the investigation and review will take. Usually from the time of the officer firing the shot until our office's announcement of a decision, four to six months have elapsed. I fully expect a decision in this case before the end of 2017." (Star Tribune)
5. Minnesota conservation officials on Monday expanded bans on feeding deer after finding multiple captive deer infected with chronic wasting disease at farms in Crow Wing and Meeker counties. The new feeding ban is in place until February 2019 for 11 central and north-central Minnesota counties surrounding those farms. A similar ban continues for five southeastern Minnesota counties, the state Department of Natural Resources said. "Feeding bans in central and north-central Minnesota are precautionary," said Lou Cornicelli, the DNR's wildlife research manager, said in a statement. "Wild deer in these areas are not know to have CWD. These feeding bans are a proactive step to keep CWD at bay." (MPR News)
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