Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Rush City Prison Gets National Probing
“A time bomb.” “Gladiator School.” These are just a couple of the ways people familiar with the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Rush City describe the 25-year-old high-security prison.
That’s from a recent story by Nicole Einbinder and Hannah Beckler for Business Insider, which looks at how difficult it has become for inmates to prove that institutions have violated their rights under the Eighth Amendment (that’s the “cruel and unusual punishment” one). The story focuses on a 2012 incident in which James Vandevender was bashed repeatedly in the head with a 4x4 by another inmate. Officers did not intervene until after the sixth blow, but Vandevender, like many others who sue under the Eighth Amendment, was unable to meet the “deliberate indifference standard” set by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1994.
Under that standard, Einbinder and Beckler write, “officials [are] now on the hook only if they had the knowledge that a particular harm would occur if they didn't act”—a mental state that’s almost impossible to prove. Vandevender isn’t the only inmate to find that out, and Rush City isn’t the only prison where rights violations are going unrecognized. Current Rush City inmate Keith Hapana Crow described the prison as "in shambles" via the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder in 2023, and last year inmates told the Pioneer Press that conditions are "medieval."
House, Senate Shakeups
While you were frantically finishing your holiday shopping, scarfing down cookies, and watching the ball drop, Minnesota's Legislature was enveloped in some pretty significant end-of-year shakeups.
First, reports Torey Van Oot for Axios Twin Cities, a late December court ruling has barred DFL Rep.-elect Curtis Johnson from taking office, finding that he failed to failed to meet the residency requirements for the Roseville-area seat to which he was elected. (ICYMI: The guy allegedly rented an apartment in the district while continuing to live with his family in a different home outside of it. C'mon.) So when the session commences on January 14, what would have been a 67-67 tie in the House will actually be a slim 67-66 edge for Republicans, though Dems say they'll appeal the ruling to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the DFL's one-vote Senate majority is no longer, following the death of former Senate DFL Leader Kari Dziedzic in late December. Oh, and let's not forget that Sen. Nicole Mitchell (DFL-Woodbury) will go to trial later this month after allegedly burgling her stepmother's Detroit Lakes home in August. Shaping up to be a weird, contentious year!
Anti-Abortion Freaks Allowed to Be Sidewalk Assholes
Remember back in 2022 when Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance banning “sidewalk counselors," aka those religious zealots who try to “counsel” people to obey the laws of their preferred god? Well, several journalists in town have noticed that this rule was quietly amended late last year to allow their usual street harassment. Which means that walking by the Planned Parenthood on Lagoon Avenue is going to be super annoying this summer. Uptown is back, baby!
So what happened? Mayor Jacob Frey signed the ordinance into law in November of 2022. In April of 2023, Pro-Life Action Ministries filed a challenge in federal court, citing free speech violations. “The ministry of pro-life sidewalk counseling is a peaceful interaction with pregnant women to convey life-affirming alternatives to abortion,” attorney Erick Kaardal, a non-pregnant man, incorrectly claimed at the time. By last month, City Council agreed to amend parts of the law and to pay $600K in legal fees.
“The ordinance before you today is consistent and in line with both federal and state Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Acts,” said Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai at the meeting, referring to federal laws that ban blocking of medical facility entrances and driveways.
NYT: Gophers to Play in "Gross," "Weird" Mayo Bowl Tonight
Your Minnesota Golden Gophers football team could be playing in a more heralded bowl game this year, provided they'd won very winnable games against North Carolina, Iowa, and Rutgers. But they didn't, so instead the Gophs (7-5) will face off tonight at 6:30 p.m. via ESPN against the Virginia Tech Hokies (6-6) in the... Duke's Mayo Bowl. What the mid-tier bowl lacks in prestige, it more than makes up for by being a "sickening" viral sensation, according to this recent writeup in the New York Times.
Duke's, a mayonnaise brand that Southerners reportedly prefer over market leader Hellman's or Racket fav Kewpie, acquired the rights to this Charlotte, North Carolina-based bowl game in 2020. Since then, Duke's revolting hijinks—mayo baths, mayo eating contests, mayo bobbing—have blown up online, setting the event apart from 40ish other NCAA bowl games. The extracurricular shenanigans have contributed to boosts in ratings, payouts, and TV slots, however, "its success in garnering attention has more to do with its willingness to go all-in on mayo, creating some of the most provocative and viral moments in college football," per the NYT. A spokesperson for Duke's reports mayo sales are up, too.
The Charlotte Sports Foundation wouldn't tease what to expect tonight, specially, although "new elements" will be worked into the mayo dump, in which gallons of the condiment are showered, in clumpy white glory, all over the winning head coach. Interested in the actual football elements? Check out this deeply reported PiPress story from Andy Greder on the insane mental prep work practiced by Gophs QB Max Brosmer.
