Good morning, everyone and welcome. I\u2019m Thom Gilligan. I\u2019m speaking to you today, not as a Ramsey County District Court Judge, but as an aging boy lawyer who is humbled and honored to share some reflections about Mary Lou Klas. About 45 years ago, she came into my life when her son John and I were busy hatching plans in high school to get into and out of trouble. When I first met her, I remember thinking how formidable she was, because she was tall, direct, smart, and didn\u2019t talk to me about things typical for a friend\u2019s parent. And if you thought she was formidable in a courtroom wearing a black robe, she was just as formidable on her front porch in her nightgown at 2 o\u2019clock in the morning when John and I missed curfew. As a result, I sat up straighter and paid a lot more attention when I was in the Klas house, than when I interacted with any other adults. I did not know then that she would become my mentor, my champion, and my hero.<\/p>\n
Some judges consider themselves something like umpires \u2013 apolitical, anonymous magistrates who call balls and strikes and tell litigants whether they are safe or out. Their work is confined to the courtroom, wearing a robe, and resolving cases one at a time. They tend to embrace the culture of the courthouse and carry on its traditions, whether they agree with them or not. From the beginning, Mary Lou Klas had a very different idea of what it meant to be a judge.<\/p>\n
When she was appointed to the bench at the age of 56 and the first female District Court judge in Ramsey County, she had been in the rough and tumble of practicing law in St. Paul for over 25 years. Judge Klas had developed fully informed opinions about the entrenched problems in the justice system, such as domestic violence, gender fairness and child custody. As a judge, she worked to name those problems, educate the bench, bar, legislature and the public about them, build alliances and break down walls to address them, and to create original ways to fix them.<\/p>\n
She was not going to waste an opportunity to make systemic change as a judge.<\/p>\n
Retired Chief Judge Kathy Gearin described Judge Klas as fierce when it came to issues concerning domestic violence and sexual assault. But she said that Judge Klas put her money where her mouth was, and worked hard to change the archaic and wrong-headed attitudes among her colleagues and justice partners about these issues. In an interview with TPT in 1991, Judge Klas recognized that \u201cchanging deeply held cultural attitudes is a big job.\u201d But she remained undaunted, even though her work and her opinions on these types of issues had a personal cost. In her archives at the Minnesota History Center, she kept a Star Tribune article which referenced the fact that she was removed frequently by attorneys in \u201cmisdemeanor domestic assault cases, an area of law where [Judge] Klas has built a reputation as a strong advocate for battered\u00a0women.\u201d There is a significant difference, however, between being biased about domestic violence, which she clearly was not, and being informed about it, which she clearly was.<\/p>\n
In 1997, she was contacted by a family court judge from Massachusetts during a time when Judge Klas was preparing a mediation and domestic abuse training program for the district court. The judge informed Judge Klas that they had been selected as one of the \u201cTen WORST Family Law Judges in the Country\u201d by a fringe father\u2019s rights group. Judge Klas wrote back to the judge and said: \u201cI\u2019m honored to be second to you on the list. Too bad there do not appear to be any other women or we could get a subcommittee of the National Association of Women Judges to network on what it is that puts us in this elite group.\u201d She also told her colleagues about her honor and said that she just wanted them \u201cto know the fame and celebrity status you can achieve if you play your cards right in family court.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Klas was a political person, from her work on the recount team for Governor Karl Rolvaag\u2019s razor-thin election, to her vocal opposition to the nomination of Justice Clarence Thomas, and beyond. She put her political savvy to work in testifying on various issues before the Minnesota Legislature. Listening to her testimony, you can tell that she developed relationships and commanded the respect of decision-makers on both sides of the aisle. She also understood the separation of powers, and that the only way that lasting change could happen was if both the legislative branch and executive branch were on board. She also understood without funding and support, most of the policy issues that she supported as a judge and as a member of the public would never be sustained.<\/p>\n
As most of you know, Judge Klas had a great sense of humor. One of the funniest things I found in her archives weren\u2019t the New Yorker cartoons \u2013 which she dated in her elegant handwriting and put in chronological order after they had been posted on the family refrigerator \u2013 but a letter that she sent to a friend in 1996 to congratulate her on raising money to endow a professorship in the name of Anita Hill at the University of Oklahoma Law School. She told her friend: \u201cI still\u00a0have several \u201cI believe Anita\u201d buttons and if I were not wearing [a] button being promoted by\u00a0the Silent Witness Project, I\u2019d still be wearing Anita\u2019s. It\u2019s very close to my heart, however, and as I\u2019ve said many times, I will wear the button until I die or Clarence Thomas is off the court,\u00a0whichever comes first.\u201d This is probably the only task that Judge Klas left undone.<\/p>\n
Like many great public figures, Judge Klas had an amazing second act. And Judge Klas\u2019 second act took all of her Minnesota accomplishments in domestic and gender-based violence worldwide. Cheryl Thomas, the Executive Director of Global Rights for Women told me about trips Judge Klas took to Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania to promote the idea that violence against women was a human right. She trained advocates, prosecutors, and judges on domestic violence. She helped promote the idea of civil orders of protection, which empowered victims in those countries to go directly to court to get protection from abusers, and bypass corrupt and disbelieving law enforcement officials. I asked Cheryl how Judge Klas was able to overcome, language, culture, history and skepticism in her global work. She said that Judge Klas accomplished her goals by unparalleled experience, passion, personal connection, and sheer force of will.<\/p>\n
As I was thinking about what I was going to say this morning, I reflected about the impact Judge Klas has had on me personally. She\u2019s probably the reason why I went to law school, represented victims of domestic abuse, and became a judge. She read my appellate briefs in domestic violence cases as a lawyer and orders that I issued as a judge. In fact, I got a card from her once after I had made some decision or another that said only \u201cWell done, my dear!\u201d Since judges don\u2019t typically get fan mail \u2013 having the approval from my Gold Standard gives me hope that I just might be on the right track.<\/p>\n
Undoubtedly, Judge Klas would not want me to waste this opportunity to let you to know that there are so many things that you can do to make change in this world. I\u2019m sure she would agree with John Lewis, who said \u201cwhen you pray, move your feet,\u201d because that is precisely how she lived such a spiritual and purposeful life. Judge Klas, by getting people to listen and understand, you\u2019ve helped change the world. All I can say is: \u201cWell done, my dear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also, Rosalie Wahl\u2019s words might be helpful here: Transcript of Interview with Rosalie E. Wahl<\/a> (Mar. 18, 2006; July 8, 2006)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good morning, everyone and welcome. I\u2019m Thom Gilligan. I\u2019m speaking to you today, not as a Ramsey County District Court Judge, but as an aging boy lawyer who is humbled and honored to share some reflections about Mary Lou Klas. About 45 years ago, she came into my life when her son John and I … <\/p>\n