PLYMOUTH, Minn. – June 21, 2022 – Jim Schultz, the Republican-endorsed candidate for Minnesota Attorney General, released the following statement after Attorney General Keith Ellison demonstrated in a press conference earlier today that he does not know the law.
“Keith Ellison is engaging in theoreticals better suited for a law school classroom than the office of Attorney General. He also doesn’t understand our Constitution or Minnesota law. Freedom of movement under United States law is governed primarily by the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the United States Constitution which states, ‘The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.’ For decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that this important clause protects, among other things, the right to enter one state and leave another, as well as the right to be treated as a welcome visitor rather than a hostile stranger.
“Extradition from Minnesota is a procedure that is explicitly reserved as a duty of the ‘governor of this state,’ and not the Attorney General. See Minn. Stat. § 629.03. Under Minnesota law, while the governor can ‘call upon’ the Attorney General or any other prosecutor to investigate the demand for extradition, the Attorney General has no other power. That’s it. If Ellison has a problem with that, he should run for governor, God help us, or ask our Legislature to change the law, God help us again. It is unfortunate that the media parroted Ellison’s talking points without confirming basic facts.
“There is real crime occurring in Minnesota. People are being shot, theft is rampant including violent carjackings, and drug use is easily and openly found downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. Good citizens fear their loved ones’ safety. Keith Ellison should be spending his time prosecuting real criminals here in Minnesota rather than trying to play law-school professor—and doing a bad job even at that.”
