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2014 Minnesota Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2014)

handle is hein.sag/sagmn0085 and id is 1 raw text is: LEGISLATIVE: MEMBERS: Privilege from arrest during session does not apply to criminal conduct. Minn. Const. art. IV, § 10. 2801-1 (Cr. Ref. 86a-16) ,%1fe of 4+hnnesnf a CR1CWAN3ON ST. PAUL, MN 55155 ATTORNEY GENERAL April 22, 2014 The Honorable Ron Latz State Senator Chair. Senate Judiciary Committee 303 State Capitol 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. St. Paul MN 55155 Dear Senator Latz: In your letter dated April 10, 2014, you note that the Minnesota Constitution extends the following privilege to members of the Minnesota Legislature: Art. IV., Sec. 10. Privilege from Arrest. The members of each house in all cases except treason, felony and breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during the session of their respective houses and in going to or returning from the same.... You ask to what conduct this privilege from arrest applies. You note that there is pending legislation to clarify that this privilege does not apply to criminal conduct. As you know, the Research Department of the Minnesota House of Representatives issued an opinion on April 9, 2014 on the same question you ask in your April 10 letter. As noted in the House Research Department opinion, various federal courts and courts in other states have interpreted similar constitutional provisions relating to the legislative privilege from arrest. Almost all of the more recent decisions conclude that the privilege does not apply to any type of criminal conduct. These recent decisions demonstrate an evolution in judicial reasoning over the past century. For instance, the Minnesota Supreme Court interpreted Art. IV, Sec. 10 in Rhodes v. Walsh, 55 Minn. 542. 57 N.W. 212 (Minn. 1893). In that case, several state legislators who were served with a civil summons and complaint argued that the above provision granted them a privilege against being served with civil service of process. The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected their argument, finding that the privilege from arrest' did not apply to service of a civil lawsuit. Walsh, 55 Minn. at 533. 57 N.W. at 215. In so holding, the Minnesota Supreme Court

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