Judge John Guthmann was the featured speaker and the turn out was wonderful. Special guests included Leif Hagen, Charter Club President of the MN Pride Rotary Club (the first LGBTQ club in the state and the third in the country).
President Todd called the meeting to order at 5:15 at the University Club of St Paul
Thank you meeting volunteers: Clyde Nelson (online greeter); Dana Bruce (in person greeter); Michael-jon Pease (scribe); and the amazing A/V team of Noble Oriji, Ken Crabb, Dave Wolfgram and Katie Dailey.
Members enjoyed David Dominick’s wonderful cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday to Rotarians with April birthdays.
Shelly Rucks introduced The Honorable Judge John Guthmann, today’s speaker, who addressed the Judicial System and the Rise in Crime.
Judge Guthmann’s comments were a fascinating look into the question of what it means to be “tough on crime.”
The story that immediately got the audience on his side was that of his first give minutes on the Ramsey County bench. He went to adjust his chair and chose the wrong lever, which caused him to “face plant” on the desk. “It was a great lesson in humility.”
The factors driving todays’ increased crime rates are familiar to most of us by now: the financial pressures and anxiety caused by the pandemic, the temporary closure or loss of programs and services, intergenerational poverty and drug use – elements that cut across all economic levels and races.
The courts closed from March to June 2020 due to COVID. The Police Chief called the Judge to see when the courts would open. The jails were crowded, causing a health concern. The court ranked the categories of offenders in order to quickly release minor offenders in order to ease the pressure on jails until trials could resume.
Even now, there is a six-month backlog of trials, exacerbated by the declining number of deputies available to staff the court and the high number of public defenders who are retiring. The court needs to be holding four to five jury trials each week to manage the caseload, but only has the staffing for two to three trials per week.
The vast majority of defendants the court sees are indigent, being represented by a public defender.
What does it mean to be “tough on crime?” Whether it is a better punishment for a defender to spend 90 days in jail or have conditional, supervised probation for a whole year depends on the case and the defendant. According to the MN Constitution, the court cannot hold defendants without bail.
The judge reviewed the guidelines and nuance of sentencing, sharing the rubric used to tally a score for past criminal history and the grid that lays out the sentencing options for various levels of crime weighted against the criminal history score.
His personal stories from the bench illustrated how the decisions in one case simply don’t apply in another situation that may appear similar.
The Judge quoted his late father Howard Guthmann, a long-time St Paul Rotarian, who said “Prevention is how you change things. You can’t change things by reacting to them from the bench.” Positive programs like Northern Star Scouting are the preventive measures in society.
President Todd offered reminders of upcoming club events and President Elect David Dominick promoted the St Paul Sunrise Club’s upcoming forum on “Creating a Safe and Just Community Together” from 7:30-9:15 on April 28 at the Minneapolis Women’s Club and Zoom.
Visiting Rotarian Leif Hagen, Charter Club President of the MN Pride Rotary Club (the first LGBTQ club in the state and the third in the country), promoted their upcoming Drag Brunch fundraiser at Amsterdam Bar on Sat, April 30 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Featured performers include Connie Taylor, Jade Knight, Rustina Phoenix-Nuttz, Eduardo and Mars.
President Todd adjourned the meeting at 6:25
Respectfully submitted,
Michael-jon Pease