Friedman v. Commissioner of Public Safety

Had I been a member of the Minnesota legislature in 1984, it is quite possible that I would have voted against the law that today’s majority holds violative of the Minnesota Constitution. My role, however, as a judge of the Minnesota Supreme Court is not to decide whether the legislature’s policy decision would have been my legislative choice. It is not our opinion of the wisdom of Minn.Stat. § 169.123, subd. 2(b)(4) (1990), which is at issue here; the question is whether the statute rises to the minimum requirements of article I, section 6 of the Minnesota Constitution, and I sharply…