Disaster Relief to States and Cities Is Both Right and Good: Part 1 of 2

NEIL H. BUCHANAN

In this first of a series of columns about federal relief to state and local governments, UF Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan provides the economic background to explain how unprecedented these times are and argues that supporting cities and states is essential to surviving this crisis.

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State v. Leonard

Docket: A17-2061

Opinion Date: May 13, 2020

Judge: Hudson

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of check forgery, holding that a government inspection of a guest registry is a search under the Minnesota Constitution and that the district court committed reversible error by admitting evidence illegally seized from Defendant's hotel room. Based on evidence that law enforcement officers discovered in Defendant's hotel room, Defendant was charged with check forgery. Defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the officers violated Minn. Const. art. I, 10 when they inspected the hotel guest registry, which led them to his room, without having any individualized suspicion of criminalized activity. The district court denied the motion, and the court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) law enforcement officers must have at least a reasonable, articulable suspicion to search a guest registry; (2) the hotel guest registry statutes, Minn. Stat. 327.10-.13 are constitutional because they do not authorize suspicionless searches; and (3) because the evidence admitted in this case was the fruit of the illegal, suspicionless search of the guest registry the district court erred by denying Defendant's motion to suppress.

Save Lake Calhoun v. Strommen

Docket: A18-1007

Opinion Date: May 13, 2020

Judge: David L. Lillehaug

Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law

The Supreme Court held that the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources had the statutory authority to change the official name of a well-known Minneapolis lake from Lake Calhoun to Bde Maka Ska because the forty-year limitation on lake name changes in Minn. Stat. 83A.05, subd. 1 applies only to county boards, not to the Commissioner. In 2018, the Commissioner invoked his authority under Minn. Stat. 83A.02(1), (3) to change the name of Lake Calhoun to Bde Maka Ska. Respondent argued that section 83A.05's provision prohibiting changing a body of water's name "which has existed for 40 years" applied to the Commissioner's statutory authority to change the lake's name. Respondent petitioned for a writ of quo warranto challenging the Commissioner's authority. The district court denied the petition, concluding that ongoing action was necessary to obtain the writ and that there was no such action here. The court of appeals reversed. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) a writ of quo warranto was an appropriate method to challenge the Commissioner's authority in this case; but (2) the Commissioner's authority under section 83A.02(1), (3) to change the name of a lake is not limited by section 83A.05, subd. 1.