Buffalo High School auditorium

Buffalo High School auditorium

Three announcements from Minnesota courts this afternoon: First, there won’t be a ruling today on Norm Coleman’s legal challenge to the Senate-election recount that Al Franken won. Second, however, the three-judge panel now deliberating did throw out a separate voters’ suit in the matter (pdf). Third, there will be a special May 6 Minnesota Supreme Court hearing at the 800-seat Buffalo High School auditorium in Buffalo, Minn.

Hmm … May 6? A hall big enough to accommodate a large crowd … maybe for a case with international interest? But no — the Supremes aren’t planning to sneak out of town to hear Coleman’s expected appeal.

May 6 is about the time the court might take up the appeal Coleman has promised within 10 days of an anticipated ruling from the election-contest court that will uphold Democrat Al Franken’s recount victory. And the Buffalo High auditorium holds about 15 times as many observers as the court’s State Judicial Center courtroom in St. Paul.

But court spokesman Kyle Christopherson tells the Minnesota Independent that another case has already been chosen for the hearing, which is one of two proceedings this year that the court will take on the road: one in the metro area and one in Greater Minnesota. (Not even 40 miles from downtown Minneapolis, Buffalo barely qualifies for the latter.)

And court spokeswoman Lissa Finne tells MnIndy there won’t be room for the general public to attend: The 800 seats are reserved for Buffalo High students. The public may be able to watch locally on cable TV, she said, or live at the court’s Web site.

Minnesota’s high court does hold hearings most months that the public is welcome to attend (pdfs for April and May).

Recount enthusiasts can read how the Senate Guru blog sizes up the five (not all seven) justices that will likely hear the Coleman case — in St. Paul.