How the judges get into office
Judges are supposed to be ELECTED. If there is a "vacancy" (such as the judge dies, becomes ill or retires), the governor appoints a replacement.
The Minnesota Supreme Court decided that if a judge retires less than one-year before the next election, then the governor is to appoint a replacement judge.
Guess what has happened? The governor appoints almost EVERY judge.
The judges tried to make a rule that the people could not know anything about a judge at election time. The United States Supreme Court ordered that the people have the right to know.
Do you know that the JUDGES decided that you have to be an attorney if you want to run for judicial office? The Minnesota Constitution does not require this. The Legislature does not require this.
The judges have changed our courts into an "old boys group", controlled by attorneys.
What happens when you hire an attorney
Attorneys all swear an oath to uphold the decision of the judges - even if the judge violates your constitutional rights.
When your attorney appears in court, it is the same as if you appeared. Everything your attorney does and says, it is as if you have done it or said it.
If your attorney fails to meet a deadline, you are penalized. If your attorney does not explain things to you, you are still required to know what is happening.
What are "statutes" and what are "court rules"
Statutes are the laws that the Legislature creates (enacts). The Legislature is the people that we elect to create our laws.
Court rules are "laws" that the judges create.
Court rules can decide whether or not you can bring evidence before the judge, whether you have to pay a court filing fee, and how the courts are managed.
The Legislature has created laws that control the courts.
But, the Legislature also passed a law that says the judges can ignore these laws, and the judges can create "new law".
And the judges have created this "new law". The Supreme Court of Minnesota even posts their "new law" on their website, telling people their "rules" cancel out the law the Legislature created. There are THREE pages of 'rules" that cancel out our law.
The judges say they have "judicial discretion"
Judicial discretion is just a fancy term for "the judge does whatever the judge thinks is right".
Originally, the judges were required to "make findings of fact and conclusions of law" to explain and rationalize why the judge made his/her decision.
But, the judges decided in their rules that they don't need to bother with "findings of fact and conclusions of law". The judges decided they have "judicial discretion" as to whether they explain their decisions with findings of fact and conclusions of law.
If you want to appeal an order from a judge, there must be findings of fact and conclusions of law. If the judge does not make findings of fact and conclusions of law - you are stuck - you cannot appeal the order.
The judges have even written a rule that they have "judicial discretion" as to whether they follow the rules that they wrote.
And so, just HOW does the current system work?
We elected the Legislature to create our laws. The Legislature created a law that says the judges don't need to obey our laws, and that the judges can write "new law" - rules. The judges created the "new law" - rules. One of the rules is you have to be an attorney if you are a judge. All the attorneys swear an oath to protect the judges.
The rules say the judges have "judicial discretion" - and if the judge doesn't want to follow the rules, that's okay.
Obviously, the current system works great, if you are an attorney - or a judge.