Minnesota Supreme Court: Governor’s Authority to Declare Peacetime Emergency Must Be Addressed

The Court of Appeals must decide the level of Authority given to Governor Walz

Golden Valley, MN – Today, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an opinion in Snell vs. Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, that sends the case back to the Court of Appeals to decide whether the Minnesota Emergency Management Act gives the Governor authority to declare a peacetime emergency for public health reasons. In the Court’s opinion, they write that this question is “an issue of statewide importance that should be decided immediately.”

“This is a significant victory for our clients and for all Minnesotans,” said Doug Seaton, Founder and President of UMLC. “We have consistently argued that Governor Walz does not have the power to declare a peacetime emergency in response to a public health crisis, and we look forward to this matter being promptly decided in the Court of Appeals.”

On August 20, 2020, the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC), on behalf of sixteen Minnesota citizens, business owners, and churches, filed suit in Ramsey County District Court to invalidate Governor Walz’s Executive Order requiring most Minnesotans to wear masks in indoor public spaces. The Petitioners represented noted that only the state legislature has the power to make laws and assert that Walz has exceeded his authority.

The Ramsey County District Court dismissed the lawsuit, and UMLC appealed that decision to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals (COA) issued an opinion in December 2021 declining to decide Snell on the merits reasoning that the governor had ended his mandate. UMLC appealed the COA’s decision to the Supreme Court.

###

Upper Midwest Law Center is a non-profit, public-interest law firm with the mission to initiate pro-freedom litigation to protect against constitutional violations, government overreach, special interest agendas, and public union corruption and abuses. UMLC is a 501(c)(3) organization.

UMLC Receives Victory in Election Integrity Lawsuit

Minnesota Supreme Court ruled largely in favor of the Upper Midwest Law Center’s challenge to the Secretary of State’s absentee ballot processing rule, which the Secretary had interpreted as allowing virtually any signature to satisfy the statute’s signature match requirement for absentee ballots. The Upper Midwest Law Center represented the Minnesota Voters Alliance and three absentee ballot board members in the case.

UMLC Files Reply Brief in Religious Discrimination Lawsuit Against Minnesota Department of Human Services

The Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) recently submitted a reply brief to the federal Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (COA) as part of UMLC’s appeal seeking a reversal of the District Court’s decision to dismiss Joseph Norgren’s and Aaron Norgren’s lawsuits based on the department’s violations of their violating their First Amendment and federal employment rights.

Minnesota Law Weekly | Episode 20: New Election Law Limits Free Speech, Protects Unions

Watch the twentieth episode of Minnesota Law Weekly. Governor Walz's recently signed HF/SF 3 into law, which allows felons to vote before they have completed their sentences, gives Attorney General Keith Ellison the power to sue citizens for what he deems as false speech and shuts down corporate political donations but exempts DFL-friendly labor unions.

News

Minnesota Supreme Court: Governor’s Authority to Declare Peacetime Emergency Must Be Addressed