West St. Paul attorney Michelle MacDonald is asking the Minnesota Supreme Court to reconsider its decision last month to indefinitely suspend her law license for a pattern of misconduct.
Among the arguments outlined this week in a 17-page filing to the state's high court — for which MacDonald has unsuccessfully run for election four times — is that the justices overlooked her participation in a "restorative prayer circle" with Dakota County Judge David Knutson, whose integrity she was accused of impugning.
"During my campaign, I advocated a unitive system — a model of justice that is equal and voluntary, where those in conflict meet in a safe space, hear each other out, and decide what to do about their conflict," MacDonald wrote in an e-mail to the Star Tribune. "My circle with Judge Knutson is a prime example of how the system should stay out of the way."
The Supreme Court ruled last month that MacDonald "recklessly made false statements about the integrity" of Knutson and repeated those false statements in a 2018 radio interview while she was on probation for the initial statements.
The court's June 30 imposition of an indefinite suspension was set to take effect two weeks after the order. A public Minnesota Judicial Branch database now lists MacDonald as not authorized to practice law in the state.
Her petition, filed by attorney Bobby Joe Champion, argued that the justices went beyond the recommendations of a court-appointed referee who analyzed a call for discipline filed by the state's legal licensing arm.
Champion, who is also a DFL state senator representing Minneapolis, wrote that the Supreme Court deferred to all of the referee's findings with the exception of the referee's recommendation that MacDonald be on probation rather than have her license suspended.
Knutson presided over the 2013 child custody trial of Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, whom MacDonald represented. Grazzini-Rucki was later convicted of hiding her two daughters from their father for two years.
MacDonald has also said that her radio comments were protected by the First Amendment and that she was speaking both as an attorney and judicial candidate. Champion argued that as a candidate, MacDonald had a First Amendment privilege to opine on issues and cases with which she disagreed.
Champion also argued that the justices overlooked a "restorative prayer circle process" that MacDonald participated in with Knutson after the 2018 election. According to the court filing, MacDonald and Knutson huddled with a third person and prayed to move on from the conflict. He also pointed out that Knutson chose not to testify in disciplinary proceedings against MacDonald.
If the Supreme Court's ruling is unchanged, MacDonald would not be able petition to have her license reinstated for four months. She would also need to complete a written examination required to practice law in the state as well as continuing legal education requirements. If her suspension continues into next year, it could imperil her previously announced plans to challenge Supreme Court Justice Gordon Moore on the ballot in 2022.
Stephen Montemayor • 612-673-1755
Twitter: @smontemayor
