Minnesota Independent

Religious, political groups criticize Bradlee Dean prayer

By Andy Birkey | 05.23.11 | 2:21 pm

In the wake of Bradlee Dean’s controversial prayer before the Minnesota House on Friday, a number of religious and political groups condemned Dean and urged Republican leaders to disavow Dean’s prayer and his association with the House. The Minnesota Catholic Conference, which supports a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, said that Dean should not be associated with their movement. The ACLU, the DFL, the National Organization for Marriage, Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak and several legislators all weighed in on the controversy over the weekend.

During abortion hearing, Cornish calls pastor, ACLU ‘disgusting’

By Andy Birkey | 04.22.11 | 2:43 pm

Last week’s House Judiciary Policy and Finance hearing on a bill that would ban taxpayer funding for abortion erupted into anger when Republican Rep. Tony Cornish of Good Thunder called a poem read by a United Church of Christ pastor “disgusting,” a term he also used for the American Civil Liberties Union.

New media quandary: Should online-only journalists be granted access to the state House floor?

By Chris Steller | 03.06.09 | 6:32 pm

Should journalists who do their reporting online have the same access at the State Capitol that broadcast and print media enjoy? It’s an intriguing issue for people interested in media and government. “It is a beaut,” says Minneapolis media attorney Mark Anfinson.

RNC aftermath: No charges from 323 arrests on final day

By Paul Demko | 02.20.09 | 4:11 pm

Charges will not be filed against 323 people who were arrested on the Marion Street and Cedar Street bridges during the fourth day of the Republican National Convention, the St. Paul city attorney’s office announced today. Local civil rights activists say the failure to press charges is the latest evidence that many RNC arrests were frivolous.

ACLU files suit against Muslim-affiliated school, state education department

By Andy Birkey | 01.22.09 | 7:44 am

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed suit Wednesday against Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy and the Minnesota Department of Education alleging a violation of the separation between church and state. TIZA was at the center of a media storm last year after the Star Tribune’s Katherine Kersten wrote an inflammatory commentary alleging religious instruction at the taxpayer-funded school. ACLU-MN investigated the allegations and in court documents filed in U.S. District Court said the Muslim organizations from which TIZA leases its space are illegally benefiting from the leasing arrangement.

Court rules Sen. Larry Craig can’t drop guilty plea; ACLU says, ‘They’re wrong’

By Chris Steller | 12.09.08 | 1:34 pm

U.S. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) cannot withdraw his guilty plea in the infamous 2007 Minneapolis-St. Paul airport bathroom sex case, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled today in an unpublished opinion. That means Craig is stuck with having copped in District Court to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct for allegedly signaling an interest in engaging in sex via foot taps from one restroom stall to another in which a undercover police officer was staked out. The decision’s “unpublished” status means the court doesn’t want their ruling used as precedent in future cases — interesting, in view of charges that Craig sought special treatment or was being singled out for preferential or especially harsh treatment because of his status as a U.S. Senator.