Perennial Minnesota Supreme Court candidate Michelle McDonald--who cannot at the moment practice law in the state of Minnesota--will be campaigning tonight in Montevideo, Minnesota, according to the event listing, Speakers: Mike Murphy, Michelle MacDonald, and Rick Willey, on the website of Constitutional Organization L.L.C.
A reader in Montevideo contacted us about a meeting at the Montevideo Community Center tonight.
Visitors to the page learn one sentence about MacDonald:
Michelle is campaigning for the MN Supreme Court. We sorely need someone with her expertise and love of country and Constitution in that role.
Your mileage may vary about her expertise, given more information. The Associated Press reported on June 30, 2021 in Justices suspend Michelle MacDonald’s law license:
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday indefinitely suspended the law license of frequent justice candidate Michelle MacDonald, affirming a referee’s finding that she violated the state’s rules of professional conduct by falsely impugning the integrity of a judge.
The high court also said MacDonald cannot petition for reinstatement for four months, calling it an appropriate penalty for repeating her misconduct by knowingly making false statements about the integrity of the same judge while still on probation in an earlier disciplinary case.
The judge was Dakota County Judge David Knutson, who presided over the 2013 child-custody trial of MacDonald’s client, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, who was herself later convicted of hiding her two daughters from their father for two years. MacDonald was suspended for 60 days in 2018 and put on probation for two years after that. In 2014, she was acquitted of a drunken driving charge but later convicted of a misdemeanor for obstruction of the legal process.
Associated Justices Paul Thissen and Margaret Chutich, who MacDonald challenged in 2020 and 2018 respectively, took no part in the disciplinary case.
MacDonald, a conservative family law specialist from West St. Paul, has run for a seat on the high court four times. She got 41% of the vote against Thissen and 44% against Chutich.
A day later at the Star Tribune, Stephen Montemayor had more in Minnesota Supreme Court indefinitely suspends Michelle MacDonald's law license:
The Supreme Court went beyond the one-year probation recommended by a court-appointed referee who looked into a petition for disciplinary action filed by the director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, the legal licensing arm for the state.
The Supreme Court went beyond the one-year probation recommended by a court-appointed referee who looked into a petition for disciplinary action filed by the director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, the legal licensing arm for the state. . . .
. . .If her license is still suspended in 2022, that could disqualify MacDonald from mounting a fifth bid for the state Supreme Court. MacDonald was also acquitted of a drunken driving charge in 2014 but later convicted of refusing to submit to a breath test and obstructing the legal process during her traffic stop.
There's plenty more at Michael Brodkorb's Missing in Minnesota, including this:
Michelle MacDonald’s law license was “indefinitely” suspended today by the Minnesota Supreme Court for violating rules governing licensed attorneys.
Still, she will be required to retake the portion of the bar exam on professional responsibility, pay costs of $900, and an investigation will be conducted before MacDonald’s law license is reinstated.
Today’s order suspending MacDonald’s license is a direct result of a complaint filed against MacDonald in June 2018 by Michael Brodkorb and Allison Mann in response to MacDonald filing a lawsuit against Brodkorb and Missing in Minnesota. The lawsuit filed by MacDonald was dismissed in March 2019 by a judge in Ramsey County.
The Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility investigated MacDonald for 21 months and requested her license be suspended.
MacDonald, who was labeled a “person of interest” in the disappearance of missing children announced in January that she will be a candidate again for the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2022. . .
Our Montevideo reader noted Oh and Michelle MacDonald is still suspended from practicing law.
Earlier this year, the organizers held a similar event on the lawn of their world headquarters on Highway 15 north of Hutchinson (once the home of the Bobber Stop bait shop). In Guest Speakers: Michelle MacDonald, Lynne Torgerson, and Reverend Daren Mehl we learned:
. . . Meet Minnesota Supreme Court candidate Michelle MacDonald, who is an accomplished Family and Elder Law practitioner admired for her feisty demeanor and her insights of the Minnesota judicial system. She is not afraid to speak out and that makes her wonderfully controversial to the special interests who are promoting retention elections.
Michelle will be speaking on the Constitution and how it relates to our Plan. She will discuss Common Law and the rights of American citizens will be explained. You will be surprised by how much power “we the people” have. The 2nd Amendment will also be addressed, as it relates to the overall Constitution. But it is important to protect the Constitution in its entirety rather than singling out any particular amendment. This will ensure that we don’t slowly lose the Constitution over time. If you learn nothing else, you will learn that you have the right to request the Court to convene a Grand Jury based on wrongs done to you that are provable. You do not need to be a member of the brotherhood to make sure you have your rights.
You will also get to hear Attorney General candidate Lynne Torgerson tell us why she is the person to beat Keith Ellison. When asked why she is running, she responded: “This country was founded upon Judeo Christian principles. That is why the United States of America has been so successful, so exceptional. This country has been blessed by God. These values have been instilled in me. We need to have people with the right values in office, in order to have the right values instituted in government.”
We're inclined to view Torgerson as a denizen of the universe in which MacDonald is a sterling attorney. In 2015, in a Petition for DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST Lynne A. TORGERSON, a Minnesota Attorney, Registration No. 208322, the Minnesota Supreme Court concluded:
. . . Due to the nature and severity of Torgerson's misconduct, we conclude that the appropriate discipline is a 60–day suspension from the practice of law. . . .
Torgerson's legal acumen on Second Amendment rights has been challenged by other Minnesota gun right advocates. Reporting in early August, Kevin Featherly noted in Permit-to-carry law survives court fight:
His lawyer’s near-absolutist arguments notwithstanding, a Coon Rapids man’s conviction for transporting an unlicensed pistol near the Twin Cities’ primary airport will stand, because the state’s permit-to-carry statute is constitutional.
That was Wednesday’s unanimous decision from the Minnesota Supreme Court, which found that Minn. Stat. § 624.714, subd. 1a does not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.
That’s true, the court found, even applying strict scrutiny—the highest judicial burden of persuasion. . . .
Rob Doar, the political director for the Minnesota Gun Owner’s Caucus, was openly critical—less of the ruling than the of case that Torgerson presented to the courts.
"It's critical when taking on potential landmark cases that you have an unimpeachable petitioner, rock-solid facts which put your position in the most favorable light, and a skilled litigator who can outmaneuver the opposing counsel,” Doar said. “This case lacked all of these components." . . .
Competence matters.
And then there was the "ex-gay" pastor who leads the Constitution Party of Minnesota:
We’ve also recently added Reverend Daren Mehl, the chairman of the Constitution Party of Minnesota, to the lineup. So please come to listen, learn, and engage our speakers on topics relating to freedom during these troubling times. . . .
About Constitutional Organization LLC
McLeod County Republican activist (with his wife Carol) Rick Willey registered Constitutional Organization LLC with the Minnesota Secretary of State's office on June 14, 2021. At its website, Constitutional Organization touts the powers of a constitutional township and The Plan.
Our favorite is this frontpage news:
Gas prices on your mind?
Did you know that constitutional townships can control their own zoning, and in many locations also water and minerals? So if your township wants to drill for oil or gas the state and feds cannot prevent it. The Louisiana Purchase Treaty that contains the land acquisition signed by President Jefferson allows townships to have local control. Ready to clean up DC?
While gas prices are indeed rising, we have our doubts that drilling for oil and gas in Minnesota's McLeod and Chippewa Counties will yield much. But given the legal talent Mr. Willey's LLC is presenting, anything is possible.
Related posts:
- Rocks and Cows of MN supports MacDonald for state Supreme Court because tyranny
- Embattled judicial candidate to attend Bemidji GOP Banquet Sept 18; trial begins Sept.15
- She'll be back: Michelle MacDonald emails supporters that she's running for Justice again
Photo: Suspended attorney Michelle MacDonald, via Minnesota Lawyer.
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