Last week, Upper Midwest Law Center Attorney James Dickey argued before the Minnesota Supreme Court on behalf of eight North Minneapolis residents who are seeking to restore neighborhood safety by enforcement of the Minneapolis City Charter’s minimum police requirement. In July of 2021, the District Court ruled that, by alternative writ of mandamus, the City must immediately take action to hire the required number of officers by June 30, 2022 or show good cause why it has not done so.
The Court of Appeals reversed that decision on March 14, 2022, in a shocking ruling which said that, although the City Council was required to fund the required number of police, the Mayor of Minneapolis did not have a duty to hire even a single police officer.
On May 3, 2022, the Minnesota Supreme Court granted UMLC’s petition for expedited review and oral arguments were heard on June 9. In his argument, Attorney Dickey told the court that current staffing for the police department, which has lost hundreds of officers since George Floyd’s murder, has led to a return of the days of “Murderapolis.”
“In the meantime, our clients have been facing, as they rightly put it, a hail of bullets ripping through their neighborhood and killing the most vulnerable, as the city refuses to change its approach to policing and restore the Minneapolis Police Department,” Dickey told the Court.
Dickey concluded his argument by asking that the Court reverse the Court of Appeals and reinstate the alternative writ of mandamus, requiring the City to prove its compliance with the writ or show cause why it cannot comply. Because the review was expedited, a decision in this case is expected soon.
After the court hearing, Attorney Dickey held a press conference along with Plaintiff Georgianna Yantos, (see photo above).
