Opposing judicial candidates Lois Conroy and Marc Berris both violated the terms of the Affirmation of a high standard of campaign conduct that each voluntarily signed, the Hennepin County Plebiscite Committee has determined.
Berris submitted the first complaint, alleging that Conroy’s campaign website allegedly misrepresented that Conroy received the highest rating from OutFront Minnesota, while Berris was not given a rating. He also complained that Conroy appeared at a DFL political party event on Oct. 6 in Bloomington.
The plebiscite committee found that Conroy did receive the highest rating from OutFront Minnesota (acceptable) prior to Berris also receiving an acceptable rating.
The Conroy campaign retained Mark Briol. The campaign’s response alleged that Berris violated the Affirmation, along with the Code of Judicial Conduct and state campaign laws by publicly endorsing a candidate for mayor of Robbinsdale, appearing in judicial robes as a non-incumbent, omitting a statutorily-mandated wording requirement on his lawn signs, and making false and materially misleading statements in connection with the Berris complaint against Conroy regarding the OutFront Minnesota rating and the Oct. 6 Bloomington event.
The Berris campaign later conceded that the earlier complaint regarding OutFront Minnesota did not give rise to a violation of the Affirmation.
The committee determined that Conroy violated the Affirmation by participating in a DFL event for the purpose of disseminating her campaign literature. Although Conroy said that she reasonably believed it was a labor event, the Affirmation does not require a “knowing” violation, the committee said.
It also determined that Berris used his Facebook page to promote the campaign of a candidate for mayor of Robbinsdale, which was a violation.
Briol raised a number of procedural objections to the committee’s investigation, arguing that Conroy was deprived of due process and requesting an opportunity to cross-examine Berris’ witnesses. The committee proceeded with an informal process and its decision indicated some frustration with Conroy’s strategy.
It said in its decision that “There can be no existing reasonable expectation that trial-like procedures would ever be used by the HCBA to resolve judicial election complaints, but to ensure there is no misunderstanding regarding the process in the future, the Plebiscite Committee will recommend that going forward judicial candidates be asked to expressly and specifically acknowledge that by signing the Affirmation, they understand that complaints may be submitted to the Plebiscite Committee for informal investigation and decision, that the candidate will be free to participate in that investigation or not, but in no event will complaints be resolved through use of trial-like discovery, disclosures, or hearings with cross-examination of witnesses.”
Source: http://minnlawyer.com/minnlawyerblog/2012/11/02/berris-conroy-violated-affirmation-committee-finds/
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