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I spent 14 years as the last country judge in Hennepin County—during several years I handled family, criminal, and civil case calendars all at once. Most judges do just criminal, just family, or a combination of civil and criminal. Those were the favorite years of my favorite job. Imagine having a deputy with a pistol and handcuffs nearby to assist in persuading folk of the wisdom of your decisions!
Since moving to Cook County six years ago, I have often perused the “Matters of Record” and Law Enforcement Briefs in this newspaper. Suffice it to say, court business is different here. For example, I cannot recall handling one petty misdemeanor for burning during a forestry fire ban, much less three in the same week.
Be clear that there are some similarities— speeding, Driving While Intoxicated, Open Bottle and domestic violence occur in both Hennepin and Cook Counties. So also, both counties see snowmobile speeding cases as well as Driving After Revocation, underage drinking, disorderly conduct, and vandalism. Abuse of alcohol is the most common denominator in misdemeanor offenses.
I was impressed that a minor consuming and possessing alcohol generated fines and costs of $630.00. Any youngsters reading this column will probably choose to avoid such consequences. Instead, they can wait until they can legally afford to buy a bottle of Macallan 18-year-old, single malt whisky preferred by my scotch snob friends. The prices are about the same; if you are 21, you can pay the liquor store instead of the court.
But Hennepin County has few cases of possessing or using non-preserved minnows in a trout lake. There were at least five of those in Cook in the last year. And we must have had abandoned vehicle cases in Hennepin, but I had none. I recall no Hennepin cases of Fishing Without a License, or deer baiting. So, also, we had few charges of hunting, trapping or taking wild animals in a state park or forest recreation area, although we had at least two state parks in Hennepin.
I suspect that with all the hunters, that discharging of a firearm within 500 feet of an occupied building happens in both counties.
The great bulk of all people charged resolve their cases by a plea of guilty, often with dismissal of other charges. I saw 30 cases in one week; that’s a lot for Cook County. The typical misdemeanor daily calendar in Minneapolis had 100 plus. Of course, our court here, with its lesser workload, only meets four days every four weeks except for trials. Most of Judge Cuzzo’s time is spent in Two Harbors. He also has people skills. We infer that because he has been elected by his peers as Chief Judge of the Sixth District including Duluth and the Range as well as Carleton, Lake, and Cook Counties.
I like living where the headlines rarely mention murder or most other severe crimes against the person. It would be heaven on earth if we could say the same about domestic abuse. Consider this sample of law enforcement briefs from a couple days last year:
Monday, 7:31 a.m., Lutsen: Deputy participated in Safe Routes to School, following the school bus looking for stop arm violations. 10:43 a.m., Schroeder: Report of property damage at Cliffs Erie. 4:03 p.m., Grand Marais: A donkey and horse were loose on County Road 7. 7:35 p.m., Grand Marais: Caller said there is an injured fox heading east on the Gunflint Trail. It is limping. 11:47 p.m., Schroeder: Report that a moose was struck by a vehicle at mile marker 71.
Wednesday, May 17 9:01 a.m., Grand Marais: Caller said somebody was banging on the door last December, and he is now nervous about it. 10:24 a.m., Grand Marais: Caller from Grandma Ray’s said there is a kid going through the cigarette butt can. 8:52 p.m., Grand Marais: Vehicle struck a deer on Devil Track Road. 9:01 p.m., Lutsen: Caller from Rollins Creek Road said the inside power box is making a loud noise. 9:07 p.m., Grand Marais: Traffic citation issued. 9:46 p.m., Grand Marais: Unspecified complaint from the public.
We have had a hard time getting enough mechanics and tradesmen up here since the 2008 Recession. But you’d think we’d have police officers and sheriffs beating down the door to be here. Maybe we do.
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