History

HISTORY OF THE MINNESOTA SOCIETY FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The Minnesota Society of Criminal Justice, one of only two Minnesota criminal defense lawyers specialized bar associations, is unique in its organization as a college. This means that MSCJ members (Minnesota Defense Attorneys only) are voted in by the then existing membership; and the total of regular members is limited (currently to fifty regular members). 

This structure enhances the group’s ability to work together to bring the defense of the legal rights of people accused of crimes. 

Another key feature of the group is its monthly meetings, and Continuing Legal Education courses.  These help the members share information on the latest issues in criminal justice in Minnesota.

Leading The Way

The group and members of the group have long led the way with cutting edge legal issues advancing the cause of criminal justice in Minnesota.

One example is the MSCJ Source Code Coalition. 

And MSCJ has a long tradition of producing a well-known, annual Criminal Justice Seminar focusing on DWI defense, in other states and in recent years sited in Minnesota (see the page on this site about the most recent or upcoming MSCJ Annual DWI Seminar). 

MSCJ members over the years have been and are some of the best criminal lawyers in Minnesota, and have contributed much to the cause of justice in this state.

Since 1986

MSCJ was founded near the end of 1986.

The group still has a few of the original founding members, but we can see that the day is coming where that will no longer be the case.  As a result, some of us are making an effort to begin to document the history of the Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice – here, on this page.

Here is a listing of our past Presidents by year.  Our Presidents are elected by the membership for a one year term of service.  (If you are aware of any errors corrections or additions please contact the webmaster at the link below.)

Year                            President 1987                             Jerry Strauss 1988                             Fred Bruno 1989                             Joe Bluth 1990                             Rich Koch 1991                             Peter Wold 1992                             David Valentini 1993                             David Ayers 1994                             John Brink 1995                             Dean Grau 1996                             Peter Mayrand 1997                             Faison Sessoms 1998                             Jeff Ring 1999                             Jeff Sheridan 2000                             Bob Malone 2001                             Richard Swanson 2002                             Doug Hazelton 2003                             Tom Bauer 2004                             Barry Hogen 2005                             Michael Samuelson 2006                             Peter Timmons 2007                             James Leviton 2008                             Thomas Jakway 2009                             Roger Gershin 2010                             James Ventura 2011                             Thomas C Gallagher 2012                             Robert M Christensen 2013                             Rebecca Rhoda Fisher 2014                             David Risk 2015                             Max Keller 2016                             Mark Giancola 2017                             Andrew Garvis 2018                             Jill Oleisky 2019                            Richard P Ohlenberg