What Do Trump’s Day-One Executive Orders Mean for MN?

Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.

One Day Down

We'll be spending a large, stressful, frustrating chunk of the next four years learning about the actions of President Donald Trump and his cronies and asking, "And how will that play out here?" What will all of this mean for Minnesota, and for Minnesotans, and for people of the Twin Cities—especially those who are immigrants, or trans, or members of other vulnerable groups?

Here's some of the local fallout from yesterday's bludgeoning series of day-one executive orders signed by Trump. Fifteen Minnesotans were among the 1,500 January 6 insurrectionists who received the president's blanket pardon, according to Elliot Hughes and Paul Walsh of the Minnesota Star Tribune, who have listed their names, charges, and sentences. Could the state prosecute them separately? Possibly! Could Trump pardon convicted ex-MPD cop Derek Chauvin? Also possibly—though William Bornhoft at Patch notes that his state conviction for second-degree murder would be outside of Trump's reach.

For the New York Times, Hamed Aleaziz reports, "One of President Trump’s executive orders signed Monday night directs both the Department of Homeland Security secretary and the attorney general to make sure sanctuary jurisdictions are not given federal funds." (That tidbit was spotted by David Brauer, who predicted it will be "the biggest story locally in 2025.") That would theoretically include Minneapolis and St. Paul, both of which have sanctuary policies, and possibly other MN counties that have been uncooperative with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (So like, can I stop paying federal taxes, or...?)

Of course, much of this mess will be determined in the courts. Already, Minnesota is among the 18 states that are suing Trump over his executive order to end birthright citizenship, which New Jersey Attorney General Platkin calls "a flagrant violation of our Constitution.” Will that matter? Good god, let's hope so.

Polk County's Weirdly High Incarceration Rate, Explained

"Last year," the Minnesota Reformer's Chris Ingraham writes, "I learned that a tiny county in northwest Minnesota is responsible for 40% of the state's drug-free zone possession charges and obtains 61% of convictions under those statutes, despite being home to only 0.5% of the population."

Now that seems wildly disproportionate, don't it? Ingraham thought so too, and dug into the figures to bring you this report. Turns out, Polk police have one weird trick to fill up correctional facilities...

Advocates are especially concerned by one Polk County law enforcement practice in particular: Officers pull over suspected drug users, and if illicit substances or paraphernalia are found in the car, the officers ask what route the driver took prior to the stop.

If authorities deduce that the route took the vehicle past a school or park, they charge the driver with a drug-free zone offense, regardless of whether or not officers directly witnessed the offense, and regardless of whether the suspect spent any time in the prohibited zone or simply drove past it in the course of their day.

Thanks to these... creative policing measures, the incarceration rate in Polk County is about three-times the state average. And according to Bruce Ringstrom, a Moorhead defense attorney who has represented clients in the County, the enhanced charges also affect defendants’ criminal history in such a way that if they're charged again in the future, they might spend a loooong time in prison.

Let's Hear It for High-Speed Rail

Here at Racket, we love trains. Amtrak's new Borealis line to Chicago? Big fans.

But here's the thing: "With five cars pulled by a single diesel engine, it covers the 411-mile journey in a sluggish 7 hours and 20 minutes—an average of just 56 miles per hour." So explains Hayden Clarkin, The Transit Guy, in this in-depth look at the potential for high-speed rail connecting the Twin Cities and Chicago. If we had Italy’s high-speed rail speeds, Clarkin writes, that 411-mile trip would take just 3.5 hours; Germany’s speeds could have Twin Citians enjoying deep dish in about 2 hours and 19 minutes.

Look, we're not getting our hopes up here (*cries in American*) but we can dream. And Clarkin presents a compelling case for how we could (and why we should) make it happen.

Cold Enough Out There for Ya?

I was pretty darn proud of myself for getting out on my fat bike this past Saturday, when the "feels like" temperature was a measly -10 degrees. I have since been inside for all but a few sub-minute-long stretches to either hustle from the car to Target or step outside and grab pizzas from a delivery driver.

Friend of Racket Dan Samorodnitsky, founder of writer-owned popular science publication Sequencer, is a stronger person than I—he braved the elements to run some errands on foot this Monday, when the "feels like" temperature was around -26. We're all lucky he did; it resulted in a delightful Sequencer story about dressing for the cold headlined "I went for a walk during the polar vortex and I only needed 27 articles of clothing."

There's something sort of unifying about struggling through these coldest winter days together, isn't there? We're also loving this Wedge LIVE! tap water temp thread:

Stay warm out there, friends. According to my Carrot Weather app, it's a full 5 degrees outside right now, and tomorrow the high is 25! We'll be sweating!