By Max Nesterak | Deputy Editor
Good morning, Reformers.
Get ready for the heat wave starting today. Thankfully we are well-equipped with air conditioning in the United States (here are lots of places to cool off in Hennepin and Ramsey counties if you don’t have AC at home). Europe has also been suffering from a brutal heat wave largely without widespread access to that life-saving technology: heat kills more people in Europe than guns do in America.
A new endorsement in the U.S. Senate race: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey this morning joined St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her in endorsing U.S. Rep. Angie Craig to replace Sen. Tina Smith.
Smith initially said she wouldn’t make an endorsement for her successor, but she’s now all in on Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. She was dancing and marching with Flanagan in the Pride parade over the weekend. Flanagan is in the Star Tribune today hammering Craig some more on her Laken Riley vote (which Craig has said she regrets).
In the Republican gubernatorial race, House Speaker Lisa Demuth doesn’t plan to participate in any debates before the primary with GOP-endorsed candidate Kendall Qualls and MyPillow man Mike Lindell, MPR News reports. Qualls called the Star Tribune’s story about his running mate being at the January 6 Capitol riot a “hit piece” and said he knew about it before he picked him (like the many lawsuits against him lol). But in the Republican primary, J6 attendance may be an asset not a liability.
And, state Rep. Elliott Engen, in between tweets about Somalis, entered a not guilty plea on Friday on his DWI charges.
To the Reformer.
(Photo courtesy of Mark43)
By Amanda Watford
As law enforcement agencies increasingly embrace AI, some civil liberties advocates, legal scholars and policing experts warn that the technology could amplify surveillance, introduce hidden biases into investigations and make it harder to challenge evidence in court. They also worry about a future in which AI takes on a more active role in policing and criminal investigations.
“AI is going to basically be able to sort through otherwise overwhelming amounts of data in ways that we just haven’t seen yet, and give police and prosecutors and the government a lot more power over us in ways that I think will be deeply uncomfortable for many of us,” said Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, a law professor at George Washington University.
State legislatures and police departments are still developing rules to govern how AI can be used in public safety settings. While some agencies have adopted internal policies or vendor-specific guidance, there is no consistent national framework, and state-level approaches remain limited and uneven.
By Sheldon Clay
Ad man Sheldon Clay writes in today’s guest commentary that Minnesota’s response to Operation Metro Surge has endowed the state with a reputation for being a generous place where neighbors courageously stand up for each other.
He argues the state can leverage that to bolster its brand with other reputational headwinds, namely fraud in social service programs:
“The political arguments fade over time, even ones as currently divisive as immigration. The powerful emotional constructs — courage, truth, justice, standing up for neighbors, a new American patriotism — can live on in Minnesota’s brand,” he writes.
IN OTHER NEWS
Moderate US House Dem group questions USDA’s Rollins over screwworm response | Reformer via States Newsroom
Trump cut a billion-dollar mining deal. His sons stand to profit. | New York Times
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