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By Elizabeth Stawicki
November 2, 2000
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It's an often-cited complaint: voters say they don't know anything about the candidates running for Minnesota Supreme Court, even though it's one of the most powerful positions in the state. Four Supreme Court seats are up this election. Two candidates are involved in the most colorful match-up, the race between Justice James Gilbert and challenger Greg Wersal.
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So why would a candidate for this important office appear at press conferences tethered to a ball and chain or stand on street corners next to plywood cut-outs of cows?
"The cow is saying, 'Got Wersal?' I'm trying to be a curiosity," says Golden Valley defense attorney Greg Wersal. This is his second formal attempt at running for Supreme Court. He made headlines last August when he won the right to add his wife's last name, Carlson, to his own on the ballot. Cheryl Wersal says her husband included her name out of love; critics said it was a not-so-veiled attempt to attract Minnesota voters of Scandanavian descent.
Wersal repeatedly attacks a rule that bans judicial candidates from talking about the political and legal issues of the day. Those rules are based on the premise that judges who express their views on such issues taint the perception of an impartial court.
"I think the whole system is unfair and dishonest," Wersal says. "It's not like they (judges) were dropped on planet Earth from Mars. They grew up here, they have preconceived notions, but somehow we pretend that these things don't exist simply because they're not discussed."
Wersal filed a lawsuit challenging the ethics rule and that case is now pending before a federal appeals court. It's unknown whether that court will rule before the election.
"I used to be very active in politics, but I've stopped that because this job changed my life," says Wersal's opponent, incumbent Justice James Gilbert.
Gilbert has erected billboards that show his tri-partisan support from Gov. Jesse Ventura and former gubernatorial candidates, Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Skip Humphrey. Gilbert believes justices should apply the law not party platforms.
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"When I took that oath of office, I swore that I'd uphold the laws of this state and both our Constitutions," he says. "I felt it was imperative at that time to set aside all political activity, all political affiliations; it comes with the territory."
Part of that ethics rule also bans judicial candidates from acknowledging political party endorsements. Last June the Republican Party broke with 80 years of tradition by endorsing Greg Wersal. Republican State Representative Tim Pawlenty opposed the endorsement.
"I just don't think the party, or any party - whether it's Republican or Democrat or another party - should be endorsing anyone for judicial office. They're not designed or intended to be partisan offices. These are rights that they're making judgements about - legal issues and rights that are supposed to be bsed on the law, not partisan considerations," says Pawlenty. Both Gilbert and Wersal have Republican pedigrees. Gilbert ran for state Senate in 1972 as a Republican. and lost to Democrat Phyllis Kahn. He also acted as former Gov. Arne Carlson's personal lawyer, and was appointed by Carlson to the court.
Both candidates are graduates of the University of Minnesota Law School and knew at an early age that the law was to be their profession. For Gilbert, that meant following in the footsteps of his hero, Abraham Lincoln. For Wersal that meant the debate team. Even now, Wersal debates for fun as a member of the John Adams Society.
Despite ethics rules, there are issues that judicial candidates can talk about. Among them: what they believe qualifies them over their opponents. Wersal believes his 20 years experience in personal injury and criminal defense law is what sets him apart from Gilbert.
"I would love to criticize several cases that were decided by our Supreme Court," Wersal says. "I think some of the things they've done show they don't understand criminal law. Few of the judges on the bench right now have criminal law experience and I think it shows."
Court information says 30 percent of the cases that come before the state Supreme Court are criminal.
James Gilbert worked as a trial lawyer for 25 years in private practice; he chaired the Merit Selection Commission that recommends potential judges to the governor, and he's managed one of the Twin Cities' major law firms, Meshbesher and Spence.
"The Supreme Court really functions as a board of directors too. And that's one of the reasons Gov. Carlson wanted me on this court; I was managing partner and CEO of my law firm. There's some huge management issues we face up here. We have 100 different locations, 2,800 employees and a $250 million budget," says Gilbert.
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The candidates can also talk about what they believe is the biggest challenge facing the judiciary. Wersal says going to court is too expensive and takes too much time
"There's enormous cost in any civil litigation in terms of attorneys fees. There's also an enormous cost emotionally in terms of how long these things are dragged out. It's like people have a hammer hanging over their head for months and months before they get a decision," according to Wersal.
Wersal says he advocates using mediation whenever possible in civil cases and hiring more judges for criminal cases.
James Gilbert sees the rising number of cases coming before the courts as the biggest challenge facing the judiciary. He says courts will have to work smarter.
"Almost two million legal matters are coming into our district courts every year and 270 judges to handle them," says Gilbert.
One solution, Gilbert says, is to upgrade the state court computer system so districts and law enforcement systems mesh and judges have that information at their fingertips.
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