C. Donald Peterson

Carl Donald Peterson (February 2, 1918 – December 19, 1987) was an American jurist and politician.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Peterson received his bachelor's degree from University of Minnesota and his law degree from University of Illinois. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and as a judge advocate in the United States Air Force stationed in Japan during the Korea War. Peterson served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1959 to 1963 and was a Republican. Peterson served on the Minnesota Supreme Court for 19 years, from 1967 until 1987. Peterson died of cancer in Edina, Minnesota on December 19, 1987. His brother P. Kenneth Peterson also served in the Minnesota Legislature and as mayor of Minneapolis.[1][2]

Minnesota News Council

1970: Justice Peterson guides others[3] in a campaign to mediate[4] private disputes from inside the court's chambers.[5]

  • 4 December: Robert M. Shaw, manager of the Minnesota Newspaper Association,[6] creates an internal committee – "Minnesota [News] Council" – to address "ethical problems[7] among newspaper editors and publishers".[8]
  • Minutes of meetings are recorded by Justice Peterson on letterhead of The Supreme Court Of Minnesota.[9]

March 1974: MNA converts its "[News] Council" into a private corporation.[4] Justice Peterson is elected "President"[9] for an initial term of two years. The Code of Judicial Conduct is ignored.[3] Shaw brags about how he recruits judges – "both for the prestige a judge would command and for his or her ability to manage controversy."[8]

1994: "Minnesota News Council" is ejected from court chambers.[10][11] Nevertheless, collusion continued.[12]

2011: Without privileges inside court chambers,[13] Justice Peterson's dream of a "Minnesota News Council" ends.[14]

Notes
  1. Minnesota State Law Library-C. Donald Peterson Archived 2014-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Minnesota Legislators Past and Present-C. Donald Peterson
  3. Judges are allowed to ignore the Code of Judicial Conduct.
    • 1970: Canon 5E. Arbitration. "A judge should not act as an arbitrator or mediator."
    • 1994: Canon 4F. Service as Arbitrator or Mediator. "A judge shall not act as an arbitrator or mediator or otherwise perform judicial functions in a private capacity unless expressly authorized by law."
    • 1978: C. Donald Peterson
    • 1980: George M. Scott
    • 1982: John E. Simonett
    • 1984: Douglas K. Amdahl
    • 2002: Paul H. Anderson
    • others
    • Courtesy: Douglas A. Hedrin, "Results of Elections of Justices to the Minnesota Supreme Court 1857-2016", Minnesota Legal History Project
    • Details: McConnell Files, "Full Equality, a diary" [volume 8c], Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies, University of Minnesota Libraries
  4. Articles of Incorporation, Minnesota [News] Council, 14 March 1974, are signed by Robert M. Shaw and others.
    • Article II: its purpose is "mediation of disputes which may arise regarding the conduct of the press, . . ."
    • Article X: its Registered Office is 230 State Capital, St. Paul, MN [chambers of the Minnesota Supreme Court before moving to a new location]
    • Article XII: The first Board of Directors includes "Justice C. Donald Peterson, Minnesota Supreme Court, 230 State Capitol, St. Paul, Minnesota 55155"
    • See, also, "First Meeting of the Board of Directors", Minnesota [News] Council, 25 March 1974, 1
    • Courtesy: Minnesota Historical Society
  5. Robert J. Sheran; resigned as Associate Justice, 1 January 1970; re-appointed as Chief Justice by Governor Wendell R. Anderson, 18 December 1973.
    • See: "The Minnesota Legislative Manual", The State of Minnesota, 1969-1970, 251. "St. Thomas College, St. Paul (B.A. 1936); University of Minnesota Law School (LL.B. 1939)".
    • also, Robert J. Hagen, "Justice Sheran asks news ethics code", Minneapolis Tribune 24 February 1980, 14A
    • and, Robert J. Sheran, "Media behavior code needed", Minneapolis Tribune, 20 March 1982, 10A
  6. Minnesota Newspaper Association (MNA) is
    • 1970: "the voluntary association of general-interest newspapers in the state of Minnesota, acting on behalf of news outlets, from a central office in Minneapolis."
    • 2020: "the voluntary trade association of all general-interest newspapers in the State of Minnesota, acting on behalf of the newspaper press . . ."
    • Source: MNA website
  7. Examples:
    • "a time-honored tradition of lying about their circulation"
    • "double-billing"
    • "a deep feeling of territoriality publishers"
    • "a lot of gouging and other abuses"
  8. See: letter from Bob Shaw to Tom [Patterson, Executive Director, Minnesota News Council], 9 September 1987, page 1
    • also, "Annual Report", Minnesota News Council, 1981, page 8
    • Courtesy: Minnesota Historical Society
  9. See: letter addressed to Bob [Shaw], regarding the "initial meetings of the Minnesota Press Council on February 19, 1971", signed by [Associate Justice] C. Donald Peterson, 22 February 1971.
    • Courtesy: Minnesota Historical Society
  10. Remaining offices for the Minnesota Supreme Court moved from 230 State Capitol in January
    • “Employees coped. They moved into the newly remodeled space floor-by-floor and coexisted with construction over a period of time from September through December [1994].”
    • See: Roland C. Amundson, “A Search for Place: The History of the Minnesota Judicial Center”, Minnesota Court of Appeals, 1995, 67.
    • Courtesy: McConnell Files, "Full Equality, a diary" [volume 8c], Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies, University of Minnesota Libraries
  11. Annual Registration, Minnesota Non-Profit Corporation, Office of the Secretary of State.
    • "Effective August 1, 1989, all non-profit corporations are now required to file an annual registration once every calendar year."
    • Corporate Charter Number: L-559
    • Corporate Name: Minnesota News Council
    • [new] Registered Office Address: 822 Marquette Ave #300, Mpls, Mn 55402
    • Name of Corporate President: Terry Thompson
    • contact person, Signature: Gary Gilson
    • Date: 5-19-95
    • Courtesy: Minnesota Historical Society
  12. The "list of Supreme Court Justices who chaired the News Council"
    • 1971-80: C. Donald Peterson
    • [also: George M. Scott]
    • 1980-82: Douglas K. Amdahl
    • 1982-94: John E. Simonett
    • 1995-97: Paul H. Anderson
    • 1998-2006: Edward Stringer
    • See: email from Susan Hansen, <newscncl@mtn.org>, 14 June 2000.
    • Courtesy: McConnell Files, "Full Equality, a diary" [volume 8c], Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies, University of Minnesota Libraries
  13. After James H. Gilbert resigned as Associate Justice, he was hired by MNC in 2007 as its "Hearing Chair".
    • See: email from Sarah E. Bauer, Interim Director, Minnesota News Council, 11 May 2007;
    • new address: 12 South Sixth Street, Suite 927, Minneapolis, MN 55402.
    • Courtesy: McConnell Files, "Full Equality, a diary" [volume 8c], Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies, University of Minnesota Libraries
  14. Gail Rosenblum, "News council's demise is bad news for all who value the truth", Star Tribune, 23 February 2011, B1


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