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 have been and are among 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 | |||