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Sunday, November 25, 2012

RAMSEY - ANOKA COUNTY: Former Ramsey council member and current District 10 judge at the Anoka County Courthouse, John Dehen, and his desire to test whether a judge can [never mind should] pack a firearm in the courthouse, has made the news in Seattle.

This link, reporting on a Strib report.

Never a dull moment with judge John.

"Thank you counselors, for briefing and oral argument. The case is taken under advisement. Bang! You're dead."

That, of course, is only a mind experiment wandering to the outer limits of the possible. Knowing Judge John Dehen is sober as a judge, it's a mind experiment unlikely to actually happen. But if push comes to shove ...

In total, having conversed with Dehen once or twice, and knowing his history on Ramsey's council, I voted for him when he first ran for a judgeship and when he is up again for reelection I shall vote for him again. He has been a solo practitioner with all the bumps and grief that entails, and he has not had the far more routine life experiences of a judge in Anoka County, i.e., sitting above everyone else in the room and wearing a black robe via executive appointment either from the Barna Guzy firm or from the County Attorney's office; which by far are the two mainstream streams to the bench in our tiny insider pocket of Minnesota.