Rochelle Olson: Operation Metro Surge goes under the microscope with Minnesota Truth Council

As the chair of the governor's Minnesota Truth Council, retired Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill has inviolable ground rules.

"I'm there to run a good meeting," Cahill said. "I think that's basically what it is, and having experience with politically charged hearings, my job is procedural fairness."

When he isn't in a black robe on the bench and running the highest-profile trial in state history, Cahill's chatty and fun. On the bench, he ran a no-nonsense courtroom. He was direct, polite and vigilant, adept at reining in a recalcitrant witness or gaveling the session to a break if a juror appeared wan and flagging.

Five years ago, there was serious concern as to whether Chauvin could receive a fair trial given that video of the defendant kneeling on George Floyd had ignited global furor.

When the trial began, those fears were allayed, largely because of Cahill's equanimity and firm hand. He was an unintrusive referee, not a major character in the historic trial.

The jury convicted Chauvin of murder and he is serving a sentence of more than 22 years. In a testament to how Cahill ran the trial, the conviction has withstood appellate challenges.

Cahill began his legal career as a public defender in 1984 and eventually migrated to the prosecutor's office. Cahill was chief deputy in that office in 2007 when Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed him to the bench from which the judge stepped down in 2024. Until now, Cahill, 67, had been enjoying retirement, working only part-time as a costumed conductor on the historic Excelsior Streetcar trolley.

When he was queried through legal channels about his interest in the volunteer post of chairing the council, Cahill said yes. The first and only time Cahill said he had spoken to Gov. Tim Walz was the two-minute phone call about the council post. Cahill said he has not met Walz in person nor has he donated to his campaigns.

The full title of the panel is the Governor's Council to Record the Truth of Operation Metro Surge and Operation PARRIS on Minnesotans. PARRIS is an acronym for Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening, which targeted 5,600 Minnesota refugees who arrived legally but had not yet obtained permanent resident status.

Much of the panel's heavy lifting, the gathering of stories and lining up testifiers, is being handled by the Advocates for Human Rights, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization started by lawyers to promote civility and the rule of law.

The council is made up of Minnesotans from various backgrounds, including lawyers and law enforcement. "It's certainly not an old boys' club because we don't know each other," Cahill said.

As a judge, Cahill never talked politics. He now describes himself as a "moderate liberal" with a "pro-cop bias," but added, "I'm not some progressive who would write ‘ACAB' on the side of cars or ‘defund the police' at a park rally."

The Truth Council is expected to deliver recommendations by Dec. 1.

Cahill hopes to hear from civil rights lawyers in response to a specific question: "What would you suggest to expand the ability to hold federal agents accountable?"

More than once in a recent interview Cahill cited the words of Vice President JD Vance after Renee Good was fatally shot by a federal agent in January. "That guy is protected by absolute immunity. He was doing his job," Vance said.

Cahill said Vance was "not entirely correct, but close." Federal law is such that it's extremely difficult to sue federal agents for bad behavior, even fatal shootings such as those of Good and Alex Pretti.

Holding agents accountable is made harder by federal agents sweeping up all the evidence and refusing to share with local law enforcement, Cahill noted.

The retired judge is interested in a discussion about abolishing ICE and moving immigration proceedings under a judicial umbrella rather than the current administrative one. The idea would be to remove politics from the process.

He knows these aren't easy changes, but said, "At least we can start talking about it."

The Truth Council can't make new laws and it doesn't have the power to prosecute, but it can ask questions, encourage discussion and deepen public understanding. These are not wholly satisfying, but they're foundational to reckoning and reconciliation for this state.

Like many during Metro Surge, Cahill doomscrolled the developments from his couch. He's now committed, in his words, "to keep it from happening again."

It's the right goal and he's the right judge, bringing the same clarity of mission, steadiness and savvy that the world saw under trying circumstances in 2021.

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