Below are letters about the current John Strand trial going on right now in Fargo. I know John, a local newspaper man and from up in the area I grew up in. I didn't meet John until I lived down in Fargo, but he's a swell guy. Yes, I said swell guy, which dates me, but I don't care. He is! I was also a member of the 'Save the Jail' committee of which he was the head and for actions he did on behalf of, he is being sued. It's really a free speech issue as far as we are concerned (John and those that support him). The City feels it's a money issue. It probably was, but knowing the parties involved as I did and do, I have a big hunch it's also vindictive, hiding behind loftier reasons. Anyway, I encourage you to read the letters to get an idea of what's going on, as well as articles you can find on the trial on the Fargo Forum's website at in-forum.com -
Carolynn (Kay) Olin Johnson letter: Help support Strand in county
lawsuit
The Forum "Opinions"
Published Monday, May 30, 2005
We heard that the lawsuit against publisher/editor John Strand, who was our spokesperson in the attempt to see what could be done to save the old Cass County Sheriff's House, is going to trial.
I was not at any of the original meetings with the Cass County
Commission so maybe I don't know all of the details, but this I do know: Strand and I are from the same hometown, Crystal, N.D., Pembina County. I was chairman of Crystal's 125th Anniversary in July 2004. Strand was a speaker for the banquet. Strand's mother, Anna Marie Strand, is the only woman to be a mayor
of Crystal. She was a newspaper person. She was always willing to speak up for our town and its people. She taught Strand to speak up for the community.
When did it come to the point that an American can't speak up in public without being sued by the very Cass County board that we elected? If freedom of speech is gone, which one of our rights will be next?
The $39,000, for which he is being sued, has grown with legal fees, etc., until he will be ruined.
Young people in the community have been holding fund-raisers and have donated a few hundred dollars. They have signed a petition of support which they send in a few pages at a time.
Now, it is time for us "older" citizens to show our support for Strand by helping pay his expenses. Contribute by making a check out to Montgomery, Goff and Bullis Citizens Defense Fund, P.O. Box 350, Fargo, N.D. 58107-0350.
Thank you.
Carolynn (Kay) Olin Johnson
Fargo
Cass on trial vs. activist
By Dave Forster, The Forum
Published Sunday, June 05, 2005
A legal fight between Cass County and one of its citizens goes to trial Monday, more than two years after John Strand filed a lawsuit to halt the demolition of an old sheriff's residence and jail.
Strand, who began the lawsuit in April 2003, says the case has morphed into a battle to uphold civic rights, especially the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances.
"If the citizens lose any ground in this battle, I think that that's
just a cost none of us are prepared to quantify," Strand said last week.
In a countersuit, Cass County seeks to recover $39,000 in costs from the demolition delay Strand caused when he temporarily halted the project with a restraining order. The order was lifted about a week later and the buildings razed.
Attorneys representing the county insist the countersuit was never
intended as intimidation or punishment for Strand's activism. The county had every right by state law to seek damages caused by the delay, attorney Robert Manly said in a January court hearing.
"(The case) isn't that romantic," Manly told the judge then. "What it's about is responsibility and consequences."
A five-day trial is expected, with nine jurors from Cass County
listening to testimony.
Two high-profile expert witnesses are expected to testify for Strand: former North Dakota Gov. Ed Schafer and former state Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp.
Schafer will generally testify to the importance of public participation and discuss what kind of impact a countersuit such as Cass County's could have on that, said Bob Harms, one of Strand's two attorneys.
Heitkamp will tell jurors how attorney general opinions are prepared and the legal effect they carry, Harms said.
Strand's side contends the county ignored an opinion by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem when it demolished the buildings.
At the root of Strand's original lawsuit is the question of whether or not the demolition was part of a larger construction project to replace the old buildings next to the Cass County Courthouse.
Strand and his attorneys contend the projects were tied together. If so, they argue, the overall cost was expensive enough to require a public vote.
The county insists the demolition was separate and therefore no vote was needed. Plans for a courthouse addition were shelved more than a year before the demolition work began, said Todd Haggart, another of the county's attorneys.
"There is no project in the works," Haggart said last week.
Strand, publisher of Fargo's alternative weekly newspaper, High Plains Reader, said his legal costs approached $100,000 in late May.
A fundraising campaign to cover his expenses has collected between $10,000 and $13,000 from about 100 people, Strand said. Several local bands helped raise about $1,000 during two fundraisers at Playmakers and Ralph's Corner.
"There's times I'm humbled beyond my ability to explain it," he said of the support.
If his side wins, Strand will seek to recover his remaining legal fees from the county, Harms said.
The North Dakota Insurance Reserve Fund, a provider of liability
insurance for political subdivisions, is paying for the county's attorneys.
The county will not seek to recover its legal fees from the lawsuit if it wins, Haggart said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Forster at (701) 241-5538
Strand takes the stand
By Dave Forster, The Forum
Published Tuesday, June 07, 2005
John Strand, the man who says Cass County officials broke the law by forgoing a public vote on a building project, took the stand Monday in the first day of his trial against the county.
A jury is expected to hear five days of testimony in the case, which stemmed from the spring 2003 demolition of Cass County's old jail and sheriff's residence.
Strand, publisher of the Fargo weekly High Plains Reader, was on the stand about 35 minutes before Judge Mikal Simonson sent jurors home for the day. Under questioning from one of his two attorneys, Strand explained how an editorial he wrote got him involved in a grass-roots effort to save the old jail and sheriff's residence.
Strand's original lawsuit resulted in a temporary restraining order that halted demolition of the buildings for about six working days.
At trial, Strand said he sought the order so the county could consider an attorney general's opinion on the project that he felt was being ignored. He said the demolition was part of a larger, more expensive construction plan that required a public vote.
In response to Strand's lawsuit, the county filed a countersuit for
$39,000, the amount in damages attributed to the delay.
Todd Haggart, one of Cass County's two attorneys, said Strand
contributed to the costs by not dropping the restraining order sooner and that the county has every right to recover the damages.
He said Strand knew 30 minutes after he got the order that the buildings were already so badly damaged by a demolition crew they weren't fit to be saved. Yet Strand didn't move to lift the order until a week later.
"He let the construction workers sit there and do nothing for six work days - no justification for that," Haggart told the jury."
Haggart also said the demolition was its own project and therefore not expensive enough to trigger a vote. Construction plans never got past the first of five architectural phases, so even if county officials had wanted a vote, there wouldn't have been enough information for voters to consider, Haggart said.
For Strand's defense against the $39,000 claim, his attorneys are
arguing that the county filed its countersuit to intimidate and punish Strand for his activism.
"This case isn't about old buildings," said Bob Harms, one of Strand's two attorneys. "It's about civil rights."
But Haggart said Strand himself admits his freedom of speech on the project has never been curtailed and that he continues to speak out when he feels it appropriate.
"There has been no chilling effect whatsoever," Haggart said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Forster at (701) 241-5538
Strand is leery of future lawsuits
By Dave Forster, The Forum
Published Wednesday, June 08, 2005
John Strand said Cass County's countersuit against him has troubled him so greatly he probably won't challenge the government in a similar way again.
"I don't know if others would either," Strand said Tuesday, testifying on the second day of his trial against the county.
Whether the county's $39,000 countersuit against Strand was a justified claim to protect taxpayers or an intimidating backlash against public activism is one of the major questions at trial this week in Strand v. Cass County.
Testimony began Monday and is expected to last through Friday. The other major contention between parties - the one that led Strand to file his initial lawsuit in April 2003 - is whether or not the county ignored a public vote in the demolition of its old jail and sheriff's residence.
Todd Haggart, one of the county's trial attorneys, questioned how
chilling the county's countersuit actually was toward Strand's activism.
Under cross-examination Tuesday from Haggart, Strand admitted the county had given him every opportunity to express his concern over the old buildings, most notably through four editorials in his weekly newspaper, High Plains Reader.
"You have not backed away from criticizing the county where you thought it appropriate, have you?" Haggart asked.
"No, I have not," Strand said.
Earlier, Strand said such a countersuit by the county "effectively puts a gun to the head" of someone who is exercising a legal right.
Strand, backed by several supporters in a citizens group, halted
demolition of the old buildings for six working days by seeking a judge's temporary restraining order.
The county countersued for $39,000 in damages it said the delay cost.
Elizabeth Merritt, Deputy General Counsel of the National Trust for
Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C., testified as an expert witness for Strand. She said she became involved in the case after Strand's group called for help.
Merritt said the county's counterclaim has an especially chilling effect on public advocacy for historic buildings because it came from a governmental agency.
"Nothing could be more intimidating to citizens," she said.
Attorneys for the county maintain the countersuit was compulsory, so it had to make the claim immediately or lose its chance to recoup damages.
Haggart asked Merritt if the counterclaim should not have been asserted, even if the county had a legal and factual basis for it. He repeated the question several times when Merritt didn't answer directly.
When Merritt mentioned the importance of motivation behind the measure, Haggart asked her what she thought about a counterclaim if it was motivated "simply to protect the taxpayers' pocket books."
Merritt said the potential chilling effect is the most important
consideration.
"So the legitimate claim has to just be dropped?" Haggert asked.
"I don't characterize it as legitimate," Merrit replied.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Forster at (701) 241-5538
Dale Roland Bentley, Executive Director
Preservation North Dakota
305 4th St N
PO Box 28
Buffalo, ND 58011-0028
Voice: 701-633-2763
Fax: 701-633-2763
Cell: 701-361-9657
Email: bankers@ictc.com
Web: www.prairieplaces.org
"When we build, let us think that we build forever..." - Ruskin
Carolynn (Kay) Olin Johnson letter: Help support Strand in county
lawsuit
The Forum "Opinions"
Published Monday, May 30, 2005
We heard that the lawsuit against publisher/editor John Strand, who was our spokesperson in the attempt to see what could be done to save the old Cass County Sheriff's House, is going to trial.
I was not at any of the original meetings with the Cass County
Commission so maybe I don't know all of the details, but this I do know: Strand and I are from the same hometown, Crystal, N.D., Pembina County. I was chairman of Crystal's 125th Anniversary in July 2004. Strand was a speaker for the banquet. Strand's mother, Anna Marie Strand, is the only woman to be a mayor
of Crystal. She was a newspaper person. She was always willing to speak up for our town and its people. She taught Strand to speak up for the community.
When did it come to the point that an American can't speak up in public without being sued by the very Cass County board that we elected? If freedom of speech is gone, which one of our rights will be next?
The $39,000, for which he is being sued, has grown with legal fees, etc., until he will be ruined.
Young people in the community have been holding fund-raisers and have donated a few hundred dollars. They have signed a petition of support which they send in a few pages at a time.
Now, it is time for us "older" citizens to show our support for Strand by helping pay his expenses. Contribute by making a check out to Montgomery, Goff and Bullis Citizens Defense Fund, P.O. Box 350, Fargo, N.D. 58107-0350.
Thank you.
Carolynn (Kay) Olin Johnson
Fargo
Cass on trial vs. activist
By Dave Forster, The Forum
Published Sunday, June 05, 2005
A legal fight between Cass County and one of its citizens goes to trial Monday, more than two years after John Strand filed a lawsuit to halt the demolition of an old sheriff's residence and jail.
Strand, who began the lawsuit in April 2003, says the case has morphed into a battle to uphold civic rights, especially the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances.
"If the citizens lose any ground in this battle, I think that that's
just a cost none of us are prepared to quantify," Strand said last week.
In a countersuit, Cass County seeks to recover $39,000 in costs from the demolition delay Strand caused when he temporarily halted the project with a restraining order. The order was lifted about a week later and the buildings razed.
Attorneys representing the county insist the countersuit was never
intended as intimidation or punishment for Strand's activism. The county had every right by state law to seek damages caused by the delay, attorney Robert Manly said in a January court hearing.
"(The case) isn't that romantic," Manly told the judge then. "What it's about is responsibility and consequences."
A five-day trial is expected, with nine jurors from Cass County
listening to testimony.
Two high-profile expert witnesses are expected to testify for Strand: former North Dakota Gov. Ed Schafer and former state Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp.
Schafer will generally testify to the importance of public participation and discuss what kind of impact a countersuit such as Cass County's could have on that, said Bob Harms, one of Strand's two attorneys.
Heitkamp will tell jurors how attorney general opinions are prepared and the legal effect they carry, Harms said.
Strand's side contends the county ignored an opinion by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem when it demolished the buildings.
At the root of Strand's original lawsuit is the question of whether or not the demolition was part of a larger construction project to replace the old buildings next to the Cass County Courthouse.
Strand and his attorneys contend the projects were tied together. If so, they argue, the overall cost was expensive enough to require a public vote.
The county insists the demolition was separate and therefore no vote was needed. Plans for a courthouse addition were shelved more than a year before the demolition work began, said Todd Haggart, another of the county's attorneys.
"There is no project in the works," Haggart said last week.
Strand, publisher of Fargo's alternative weekly newspaper, High Plains Reader, said his legal costs approached $100,000 in late May.
A fundraising campaign to cover his expenses has collected between $10,000 and $13,000 from about 100 people, Strand said. Several local bands helped raise about $1,000 during two fundraisers at Playmakers and Ralph's Corner.
"There's times I'm humbled beyond my ability to explain it," he said of the support.
If his side wins, Strand will seek to recover his remaining legal fees from the county, Harms said.
The North Dakota Insurance Reserve Fund, a provider of liability
insurance for political subdivisions, is paying for the county's attorneys.
The county will not seek to recover its legal fees from the lawsuit if it wins, Haggart said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Forster at (701) 241-5538
Strand takes the stand
By Dave Forster, The Forum
Published Tuesday, June 07, 2005
John Strand, the man who says Cass County officials broke the law by forgoing a public vote on a building project, took the stand Monday in the first day of his trial against the county.
A jury is expected to hear five days of testimony in the case, which stemmed from the spring 2003 demolition of Cass County's old jail and sheriff's residence.
Strand, publisher of the Fargo weekly High Plains Reader, was on the stand about 35 minutes before Judge Mikal Simonson sent jurors home for the day. Under questioning from one of his two attorneys, Strand explained how an editorial he wrote got him involved in a grass-roots effort to save the old jail and sheriff's residence.
Strand's original lawsuit resulted in a temporary restraining order that halted demolition of the buildings for about six working days.
At trial, Strand said he sought the order so the county could consider an attorney general's opinion on the project that he felt was being ignored. He said the demolition was part of a larger, more expensive construction plan that required a public vote.
In response to Strand's lawsuit, the county filed a countersuit for
$39,000, the amount in damages attributed to the delay.
Todd Haggart, one of Cass County's two attorneys, said Strand
contributed to the costs by not dropping the restraining order sooner and that the county has every right to recover the damages.
He said Strand knew 30 minutes after he got the order that the buildings were already so badly damaged by a demolition crew they weren't fit to be saved. Yet Strand didn't move to lift the order until a week later.
"He let the construction workers sit there and do nothing for six work days - no justification for that," Haggart told the jury."
Haggart also said the demolition was its own project and therefore not expensive enough to trigger a vote. Construction plans never got past the first of five architectural phases, so even if county officials had wanted a vote, there wouldn't have been enough information for voters to consider, Haggart said.
For Strand's defense against the $39,000 claim, his attorneys are
arguing that the county filed its countersuit to intimidate and punish Strand for his activism.
"This case isn't about old buildings," said Bob Harms, one of Strand's two attorneys. "It's about civil rights."
But Haggart said Strand himself admits his freedom of speech on the project has never been curtailed and that he continues to speak out when he feels it appropriate.
"There has been no chilling effect whatsoever," Haggart said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Forster at (701) 241-5538
Strand is leery of future lawsuits
By Dave Forster, The Forum
Published Wednesday, June 08, 2005
John Strand said Cass County's countersuit against him has troubled him so greatly he probably won't challenge the government in a similar way again.
"I don't know if others would either," Strand said Tuesday, testifying on the second day of his trial against the county.
Whether the county's $39,000 countersuit against Strand was a justified claim to protect taxpayers or an intimidating backlash against public activism is one of the major questions at trial this week in Strand v. Cass County.
Testimony began Monday and is expected to last through Friday. The other major contention between parties - the one that led Strand to file his initial lawsuit in April 2003 - is whether or not the county ignored a public vote in the demolition of its old jail and sheriff's residence.
Todd Haggart, one of the county's trial attorneys, questioned how
chilling the county's countersuit actually was toward Strand's activism.
Under cross-examination Tuesday from Haggart, Strand admitted the county had given him every opportunity to express his concern over the old buildings, most notably through four editorials in his weekly newspaper, High Plains Reader.
"You have not backed away from criticizing the county where you thought it appropriate, have you?" Haggart asked.
"No, I have not," Strand said.
Earlier, Strand said such a countersuit by the county "effectively puts a gun to the head" of someone who is exercising a legal right.
Strand, backed by several supporters in a citizens group, halted
demolition of the old buildings for six working days by seeking a judge's temporary restraining order.
The county countersued for $39,000 in damages it said the delay cost.
Elizabeth Merritt, Deputy General Counsel of the National Trust for
Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C., testified as an expert witness for Strand. She said she became involved in the case after Strand's group called for help.
Merritt said the county's counterclaim has an especially chilling effect on public advocacy for historic buildings because it came from a governmental agency.
"Nothing could be more intimidating to citizens," she said.
Attorneys for the county maintain the countersuit was compulsory, so it had to make the claim immediately or lose its chance to recoup damages.
Haggart asked Merritt if the counterclaim should not have been asserted, even if the county had a legal and factual basis for it. He repeated the question several times when Merritt didn't answer directly.
When Merritt mentioned the importance of motivation behind the measure, Haggart asked her what she thought about a counterclaim if it was motivated "simply to protect the taxpayers' pocket books."
Merritt said the potential chilling effect is the most important
consideration.
"So the legitimate claim has to just be dropped?" Haggert asked.
"I don't characterize it as legitimate," Merrit replied.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Forster at (701) 241-5538
Dale Roland Bentley, Executive Director
Preservation North Dakota
305 4th St N
PO Box 28
Buffalo, ND 58011-0028
Voice: 701-633-2763
Fax: 701-633-2763
Cell: 701-361-9657
Email: bankers@ictc.com
Web: www.prairieplaces.org
"When we build, let us think that we build forever..." - Ruskin
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