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Our History
March 1963: The United States Supreme Court issues its decision with regard to Gideon v. Wainwright. The court holds that “in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy right to assistance of counsel for his defense.” This decision necessitates the creation of a Public Defender System in Minnesota.
Early 1969: Five shivering men
cower beneath a streetlight on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis. As
it whips by, the Minnesota winter wind wrests all the warmth and cheer
the inebriated men had earlier enjoyed while drinking at The
Corral. Immobilized by handcuffs clasped to the lamppost, these
men find themselves helplessly at the mercy of the Minneapolis
police. Such treatment is not unfamiliar to patrons of The
Corral—the only regional bar tolerant of American Indian
customers. Most nights, bar-goers find a police paddy wagon
lingering nearby as the bar closes and subsequently witness the police
dispensing spurious arrests. American Indian patrons are often
thrown in the paddy wagon, driven to the banks of the Mississippi
river, brutally beaten, and/or thrown in jail.
The five men—all of American Indian descent—remain
handcuffed so long that frostbite and hypothermia begin to ravage their
bodies. Finally, the police escort the men to the downtown
station and book them for public intoxication, disturbing the peace,
resisting arrest, and swearing in public. The men seek out Doug
Hall, a prominent civil rights and labor attorney who has become known
as the lawyer in Minneapolis for African Americans and American
Indians; he offers to defend the men pro bono and after hearing their
plight, Doug immediately asks them, “Do you want to fight
this?” Doug expects to hear the usual dejected,
“No.” Having experienced similar abuses for many
years, most Minneapolis minorities refuse to expend energy hoping for
justice. Though Doug continually tries to help, earning the trust
of the minority communities has been a difficult battle—the
concept of someone offering understanding and a fighting chance is
alien to them. None of Doug’s previous clients have been
willing to fight. Thus, Doug finds himself in a state of
overjoyed shock when the five men answer his question with a
resounding, “Yes!” He instantly assures the men,
“I can’t guarantee we will win, but if you want to fight,
we’ll give it a hell of a go. And I promise you,
you’ll have your day in court.”
The case goes to trial and Doug vehemently argues on behalf of the five
men. The jury acquits the men of all charges except for use of
profanity in public; the judge orders them each to pay five-dollar
fines. The result of this trial serves to precipitate the
formation of the Legal Rights Center: leaders of Minneapolis’s
minority communities find inspiration in the courage and success of the
five men; Doug Hall proves that beneficial opportunities to fight
discriminatory practices do exist; and members of the legal community
begin perceiving the inoperative nature of current representation
options for minorities—although Minnesota does now have a Public
Defender System, it is under-funded, under-staffed, and insensitive to
cultural issues.
1970: Doug Hall, Gwen and Syl
Davis, Peggy and Clyde Bellecourt, Peter Dorsey of Dorsey &
Whitney, leaders of the American Indian movement, and leaders of The
Way—a North Minneapolis African American youth-serving
organization—unite to establish a law firm “Of and For the
People.” They proclaim that this firm, entitled the Legal
Rights Center, will be a unique and different kind of law firm under
the ownership and operation of the people. With service as the
overarching mission, community representatives form the backbone of the
new firm’s structure. African American, American Indian,
and Chicano-Latino leaders advocate for their communities within the
Legal Rights Center and the public at large. The position of
Community Advocate, a feature that distinguishes the Legal Rights
Center from other firms, embodies the partnership between minority and
legal communities.
1995: The Legal Rights Center moves
from its office above The Chef’s Café, at the corner of
Chicago and Franklin in Phillips, to a building several blocks away on
Park Avenue. The building is donated by the US Bank and is
renovated by grants from the McKnight Foundation, the Bush Foundation,
the General Mills Foundation, and the Otto Bremer Foundation.
2000: The Legal Rights Center
celebrates its thirtieth year of service to the community. The
same energy that created the firm in 1970 is evident in the outpouring
of 700 dinner guests at the Center’s 30th Anniversary Celebration
at International Market Square on September 20, 2000.
The Legal Rights Center remains one-of-a-kind in Hennepin County,
distinguished by the fact that it belongs to the people. The
Board of Directors and staff are comprised of representatives of the
communities served. Because the firm is a people’s law
firm, ultimately accountable to the community, it enjoys an unusual
level of trust. African American, American Indian, and immigrant
communities turn to the Legal Rights Center as a friend in times of
need. The firm continues its history as a community-based
organization, culturally specific and sensitive to the traditions,
needs, values and aspirations of the communities it exists to
serve. The Legal Rights Center continues its rich tradition as
the only non-profit agency in Hennepin County providing free criminal
defense services to low income people and people of color.
As we write the next chapter in the Legal Rights Center’s
history, we will continue to do what we have always done. But we
will also include new stories of a more restorative way for juvenile
offenders, victims and communities, a better way that looks behind and
beyond an incident of harm toward the building of stronger communities,
not more prisons. The next chapter will tell of victim-offender
mediations and family rebuilding projects that turn restorative
philosophy into effective restorative practices. It will also
tell of community legal education that provides people with the
knowledge they need to navigate their way through the complex and
confusing American legal system. And, of course, it will speak of
the same bulldog criminal defense and advocacy services that have been
the bedrock of the Legal Rights Center since the beginning.
Prominent former staff
members include: Michael J. Davis, Pamela Alexander, John Red Horse, Ed
Wilson, Manuel Guzman, Walter Yellow Hammer, F. Clayton Tyler, Jerod
Peterson, Jim Krieger, Linda Gallant, Fred Anderson, Joe Margulies,
Keith Ellison, and William McGee.