The November 2024 elections occurred, and Michelle MacDonald was not on the ballot for Minnesota Supreme Court.
She was kept off because her law license is currently suspended and the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that she was required to have an active license to qualify to run.
I interviewed her in November 2024 about this.
The Minnesota Constitution requires a candidate to be “learned in the law,” to run for judge.
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that “learned in the law” meant that a candidate needed an active law license in good standing. Michelle’s has been suspended since 2021.
Despite the setback, Michelle took her case to the highest court in the land, the US Supreme Court and filed a writ of certiorari and later this week the US Supreme Court will decided if it will be granted for review.
Michelle faces uphill odds. Less than one percent of petitions to the US Supreme Court are granted for.
Because this writ is in front of the US Supreme Court, Michelle must argue federal issues. Her main argument is that her exclusion from the ballot violated her first amendment right. This was also her best argument.
Michelle is currently suspended because of the interview below.
During the interview, she made several factual statements about a controversial child custody case where she represented Sandra “Sam” Grazzini-Rucki. Most explosively, she was forced to conduct part of a child custody trial handcuffed to a wheelchair. Video below.
Her pen, paper, computer, and notes were missing, along with her client. Speaking of missing, the two oldest girls- Samantha and Gianna- were missing, making this the only child custody hearing I know of held in absentia.
That was after the judge in the case, David Knutson, ordered both parents to have no contact with their children for an indefinite period of time after an impromptu telephonic conference. The telephonic conference occurred on September 5, 2012, and the order on September 7, 2012.
During the interview, she described these set of events as having “no {due} process.”
For this, the Minnesota Supreme Court suspended Michelle’s license.
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday indefinitely suspended the law license of frequent justice candidate Michelle MacDonald, affirming a referee’s finding that she violated the state’s rules of professional conduct by falsely impugning the integrity of a judge.
The high court also said MacDonald cannot petition for reinstatement for four months, calling it an appropriate penalty for repeating her misconduct by knowingly making false statements about the integrity of the same judge while still on probation in an earlier disciplinary case.
Michelle argued in her writ that the suspension violated her first amendment right.
She also argued, less effectively in my opinion, that her exclusion from the ballot violated her fourteenth amendment right to “life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Michelle then argued that requiring a law license as an addition to being “learned in the law” added a “litmus test” to qualifications, which the US Supreme Court has previously stated was not allowed.
In making this argument, Michelle cited the following exchange when this was argued in front of the Minnesota Supreme Court.
In the state’s answer, Michelle argued they were presenting a litmus test.
Nowhere in the Minnesota Constitution is there a requirement to have a law license to be a judge, let along an active one. This is the litmus test, Michelle argued. In fact, to be Minnesota Attorney General a candidate is not required to be a lawyer.
The court has added requirements, a litmus test, which are not in the constitution.
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