RAV v City of St. Paul – Its History and the Legacy on the 20th Anniversary

In RAV the trial court dismissed the ordinance violation, the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed unanimously, and with Justice Scalia authoring the majority opinion, the US Supreme Court, in a 9-0 vote, struck down the St. Paul hate speech ordinance, stating “St. Paul has sufficient means at its disposal to prevent such behaviour without adding the First Ammendment to the fire.”

Of the 150+ Minnesota cases to reach the US Supreme Court, RAV is the most often cited and included in law reviews in the state’s history.

Judge Edward J. Cleary, Minnesota Court of Appeals, who was the chief lawyer for the Petitioner RAV, Justice David R. Stras, Minnesota Supreme Court, who clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas at the United States Supreme Court, and William J. Wernz, formerly Ethics Partner at Dorsey and Whitney LLP and Director of the Minnesota Lawyers Board will discuss the case, the context in which it arose, and the impact of the decision over the past 20 years.