DFL
"At the risk of oversimplifying, I am moderately conservative on social issues and a borderline radical on economic issues. I could see myself working with Bernie Sanders and Alexandra Ocasio Cortez on one set of issues, and James Talerico and some Republican conservatives on another set.
I have lived in Minnesota for 68 of my 73 years – 19 in Bloomington, seven outside of the metro area (St. Cloud and Willmar), and the last 42 years in Minneapolis. I attended law school in NYC for three years and lived in various east coast Navy ports during my infancy.
My community and political activities are best described in decades. I was active in DFL politics in Bloomington-Richfield, volunteered for Fred Harris in New Hampshire in 1976, and was an alternate for Mondale at the 1984 national Democratic convention (representing a rural MN congressional district). Then the first ten of my 42 Minneapolis years included extensive involvement in DFL politics, for example as State DFL Platform Commission co-chair, 1998-90; SD 62 (Mpls – Richfield) DFL Chair, 1992-94; DFL Ward 11 convention co-convenor, 1993; Treasurer, John Brandl for State Senate, 1986-90; and Treasurer, George Dahl for School Board, 1987.
I was also Parish Council President at the now-closed Church of the Visitation in Minneapolis, located at 46th and Lyndale, in about 1998-90 give or take a year or two.
During the years 1991-93 I competed for entry into the U.S. Foreign Service, our government’s diplomatic, consular, and international commercial service. I succeeded on the second try and was invited to
join the Foreign Service, but I ultimately declined the invitation. I have been a longtime member of Amnesty International and participated in its 25th anniversary local fundraiser in 1985 or 1986. At the same time, I provided pro bono legal representation to an unsuccessful asylum applicant, from Haiti.
The next 10 years were mostly politically fallow as I saw my kids through high school (Visitation and Trinity schools, having lost the 1989 public school lottery) and on to college. In 2002, however, I was treasurer for Tim Penny’s statewide campaign for Governor.
Since then, I have stayed on the sidelines in most political activities. Since 1996, I have not caucused or voted in any primary, with three exceptions: 2002, 2008, and 2020. But I am a frequent commenter on MinnPost, in my own name, and on the Strib as “kmalaw” and “kmalaw2.” I have two published “Community Voices” articles on MinnPost..."
I also filed one amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court, arguing that the First Amendment does not mandate government-issued property rights in vulgar or offensive expression. The Court
went 6-3 against my position in that case. I have been a candidate for office before, unsuccessfully. Most prominently, I sought the DFL endorsement for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District (then SW Minnesota, going as far northeast as Mille Lacs and western Hennepin Counties) in 1982; I filed for the Independence Party nomination for U.S. Senate in 2008; and placed third in the 2021 Ward 11 Minneapolis City Council election.
Before moving to Minneapolis in 1985 I grew up in Bloomington, went to the U of Minn Twin Cities campus (BA Psychology 1974), New York University law school (JD 1977). While in New York I worked with the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee on a review of the Hiss-Chambers case, in an effort to exonerate Alger Hiss of his perjury convictions. I also defended misdemeanor cases as a clinical law student in New York County criminal court (better known to some as “100 Center Street”).
Returning to Minnesota, I was involved in rural legal aid programs located in St. Cloud, Little Falls, Willmar, and Marshall, MN in 1977-1981. After that I had a law practice focused heavily on the farm
financial crisis of the 1980s and ‘90s. Since 1993 I have also been a panel attorney in Hennepin County representing persons in civil commitment proceedings, who are alleged to be mentally ill or chemically dependent and presenting a danger to themselves or others. Meanwhile, my farm debtor practice continued through 2015, and I continue to be involved in commercial bankruptcy cases."