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Thursday, March 24, 2005
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Dispatch takes open meeting law appeal to state Supreme Court
Associate Editor Brainerd Dispatch Publisher Terry McCollough said Wednesday the newspaper will ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to review Tuesday's Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling relating to an open meeting case involving the Brainerd City Council.
Although the Supreme Court only accepts a fraction of the cases it is asked to review, McCollough said he thinks the high court will see merit in accepting this case because of its possible relationship with the Prior Lake American vs. Mader judgment the court made in 2002.
"We're hopeful because the case at hand does deal with an issue in a recent court ruling," McCollough said.
The Dispatch filed a lawsuit on Aug. 12, 2003, contending the Brainerd City Council violated the state's Open Meeting Law when it met in closed session on July 25, 2003, to discuss the threat of a lawsuit from a peace group that had been denied permission to march in the 2003 Fourth of July parade.
The city said it closed the meeting on the advice of its attorney, that the meeting was necessary and lawful and that thus there could be no intentional violation of the Open Meeting Law.
In April, Crow Wing County District Court Judge Robert Zimmerman denied the Dispatch's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the complaint filed against the city.
In the appellate court ruling filed this week, a four-judge panel upheld Zimmerman's ruling.
McCollough said the decision to appeal was made after a discussion with the paper's attorney, Mark Anfinson.
Justin Templin, an associate attorney with the Eden Prairie-based law firm that represented the city of Brainerd, could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
MIKE O'ROURKE can be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
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