The Quad-City Times has a pretty decent article on Minneapolis resident Carrie Feldman and her refusal to testify before a Davenport, Iowa grand jury. The focus on the raid itself, rather than the undemocratic nature of grand juries (to put it mildly), is sort of unfortunate, but actually not that unfair, in my opinion. It was big, national news at the time; it would be virtually unreasonable to expect the local coverage to ignore or downplay the local hook. Still, Carrie’s quotes are strong, pointing to the absurdity of the inquiry and its politically-motivated basis, and the reporter does note that

[G]rand jury proceedings – used to determine if there is enough evidence to indict a person in connection with a crime – are secret. They are not open to the public.

It is, at least, conceivable that that same public might not be particularly enthusiastic about secret court proceedings where 20 year olds are interrogated about their high-school whereabouts by a prosecutor before a jury, in the absence of counsel or judge or stated evidence, and refusal to comply may result in detention ranging from the length of the grand jury (usually a year-ish) to, um, indefinite.

Even more locally (not quite Iowa, anyway), two activists with Bash Back Twin Cities had their first appearance in Austin, MN yesterday morning. Both face misdemeanors for confronting neo-nazis in Austin earlier this month; both pleaded not guilty, demanded formal complaints, and have a pre-trial in, well, June. A bunch of folks made the early morning ride to show support and accompanied them into the courtroom, standing in unison when their names were called in a gesture of solidarity. These defendants still need help with legal and travel fees, though, so stay tuned.

RNC arrestee Elliot Hughes, who was tortured in jail by St. Paul police, has a re-scheduled Omnibus hearing tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. (Ramsey County Courthouse, Room 1460). He’s asked for court support.

And, finally, as I mentioned, me and five others arrested outside at the public occupation/foreclosure protest at Rosemary Williams’ house have a pre-trial in early December in downtown Minneapolis. The seventh arrestee at that event had her charges dropped last Friday!

If you are one of the countless folks I’ve missed with, I apologize. (Or feel free to comment below with relevant info and I’ll update the post!)