DEED and Commissioner Grove Fail to Provide Answers to Data Requests

Minneapolis, MN – This week, the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) announced a lawsuit in Minnesota District Court against the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and Commissioner Steve Grove that alleges Commissioner Grove, acting in his official capacity but using his personal Twitter account, blocked his constituents and then refused to provide his “block list” in response to journalist Tony Webster’s data request.

Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, Commissioner Grove communicated essential information to Minnesotans through Twitter. Among other things, Commissioner Grove announced agency updates on unemployment, grantmaking, and hiring decisions and solicited feedback from Minnesotans which he promised to use in agency decision-making. In this case, Mr. Webster, the plaintiff, is a journalist and researcher who observed an increasing number of Minnesota community members claiming the Commissioner had blocked them from viewing his Twitter. Mr. Webster submitted requests under the MGDPA seeking a list of all accounts blocked by Twitter accounts operated by DEED and Commissioner Grove. DEED failed and refused to provide Mr. Grove’s block list, which violated the MGDPA’s promptness requirement and requirement to produce public government data.

This lawsuit is an action to compel compliance and action for damages under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, codified in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 (the “MGDPA”), and the Minnesota Official Records Act, Minn. Stat. § 15.17 (“MORA”) which is enforceable through the MGDPA. The lawsuit seeks a court order compelling the Defendants’ compliance, damages, an injunction, declaratory judgment, fees, costs, and a civil penalty.

###

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

DEED and Commissioner Grove Fail to Provide Answers to Data Requests