Minnesota Lawyer
Republican attorney and former state lawmaker Fritz Knaak will represent four GOP senators as they look to intervene in the government shutdown case scheduled for its first hearing in Ramsey County court Thursday.
A related suit, filed with the state Supreme Court Monday by conservative attorney Erick Kaardal and Republican Sens. Warren Limmer, chair of the Judiciary Committee, Scott Newman, Sean Nienow and Roger Chamberlain, argues that allowing any state money to be spent without proper approval of the Legislature is unconstitutional. On Thursday, they will argue that case in district court while looking to get the issue before the state Supreme Court.
The Knaak filings can be found here and argue that any court decision that agrees to the position put forward by Gov. Mark Dayton or Attorney General Lori Swanson in their respective filings last week — which called for varying degrees of partial shutdown — would be unconstitutional. It also suggests that the court could entertain a decision to force Dayton to call a special session to approve state spending through legislative appropriations to avert a shutdown scenario that may be damaging to public safety or critical state services.
Knaak is the latest attorney to join the fray ahead of Thursday afternoon’s hearing in St. Paul. The House Rules Committee gave final approval Tuesday to a resolution that would authorize former Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson to argue on behalf of the Legislature and other interest groups that have already filed papers in the case, which can all be found here.
