Court Opinion

ID: 9683942
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:41:02.76764+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:51.537994
License: Public Domain

ANDERSON, G. BARRY, Justice
(concurring).
I join in the majority opinion but write separately because of concerns regarding the appropriate level of deference to the referee’s findings. I begin with the observation that this court has original, rather than appellate, jurisdiction in cases challenging the residency of candidates for election to the Minnesota Legislature. See Minn.Stat. § 204B.44 (2004).
As the majority notes, we have previously indicated that we will defer to a referee’s findings of fact and credibility determinations in these cases. See Piepho v. Bruns, 652 N.W.2d 40, 44-45 (Minn.2002); Lundquist v. Leonard, 652 N.W.2d 33, 37 (Minn.2002). These decisions, however, relied on prior cases over which we exercised appellate, not original, jurisdiction. See Bell v. Gannaway, 303 Minn. 346, 347-48, 227 N.W.2d 797, 800 (1975) (appeal from district court); Nelson v. O’Neil Amusements, 274 Minn. 555, 555, 142 N.W.2d 647, 647 (1966) (appeal from decision of the Industrial Commission).
We have not discussed in any detail what deference, if any, we should grant to a referee’s factual findings in a dispute involving a residency challenge to a candidate seeking election, or reelection, to the Minnesota Legislature. While it seems not unreasonable to defer to the “credibility” findings of the referee, and we have so held in fairly summary fashion, these ac*560tions are unlike any other proceeding considered by this court. Discovery is limited and sometimes impossible to conduct. There are enormous time pressures and media firestorms surrounding these disputes can and do occur. And there are external pressures in residency litigation as well, including the probability that the interested parties in the litigation are not limited to a “voter” challenging a “candidate,” and the results of a decision in these cases can be far-reaching.
Given the nature of actions brought under Minn.Stat. § 204B.44, I believe the better approach is that taken by the United States Supreme Court. In cases over which the Court exercises original jurisdiction, the Court can appoint a special master who hears evidence and makes recommendations to the Court. See Colorado v. New Mexico, 467 U.S. 310, 313, 104 S.Ct. 2433, 81 L.Ed.2d 247 (1984). The Court conducts an “independent review” of the record, however, “because ‘the ultimate responsibility for deciding what are correct findings of fact remains with [the Court].’ ” United States v. Maine, 475 U.S. 89, 98, 106 S.Ct. 951, 89 L.Ed.2d 68 (1986) (quoting Colorado, 467 U.S. at 317, 104 S.Ct. 2433).
The evidence was overwhelming, and well summarized and analyzed by the referee, that the candidate did not meet the constitutional residency requirement, and thus, because it is not necessary to resolve what deference, if any, to grant the referee’s credibility finding, I join the majority opinion. But while, in many cases, we might very well agree with the credibility determination of a referee in residency litigation, I do not believe we should adopt deference as the legal standard to be applied to all such disputes.