courthouse-stadiumTwo news stories today show the toll that leaner and meaner state budgets are taking on two long-established state functions: providing a functional court system and building stadiums for professional sports teams.

Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, now on tour across the state to rally support for funding the courts, has been warning since December that ”[the] Minnesota Judicial Branch is already at a tipping point.” Progress is needed this legislative session, he said, “to preserve the effective operation of this core government function.” Last month Magnuson lowered from $54 million to $43 million his request for an increase to the courts’ $300 million budget .

Now legal observers are expressing dread over a Minnesota Court of Appeals decision reversing a conviction in a 2006 assault case that began with unauthorized grape-tasting at a grocery store — and not because the ex-con might pinch grapes and push a cop again. It’s more the reason for the reversal: The state did not provide a speedy trial as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

With courts short on funds, such reversals could become more common and affect more serious criminals — pushing the court system closer to what John Stuart, Minnesota’s chief public defender, calls a “collapse like the 35W bridge.”  Stuart tells the Pioneer Press, “You can look at [this case] and see the gusset plate bending” in the state courts system.

The U.S. Constitution is silent on the speed with which states must fund stadiums for professional football teams, but Minnesota Vikings officials are still ripping Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the state Legislature for years of hemming and hawing over the $700 million public payment they want for a $950 million stadium.

Vikings’ Vice President Lester Bagley doesn’t veil his threat very thickly: ”If you let the market work, it’s not going to be a favorable outcome for the Twin Cities in terms of the long-term future for the club.”

If the Legislature doesn’t provide funding soon, Bagley says owner Zygi Wolf may move the Vikings to Industry, Calif., near Los Angeles. Which raises the question: If the the courts go unfunded, will criminals whose convictions are reversed for lack of speedy trial also move to Los Angeles?