Posted 5/23/01
Judge Slattengren retiring from 10th Judicial Court after 25 years
10th District Judge Linn Slattengren will retire July 15 after serving the counties of Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, and Pine (PICK) as trial judge for the past 25 years.
The 62-year-old judge grew up on a farm near Taylors Falls and studied math and physics at the University of Minnesota.
He then pursued a doctorate program in physics and philosophy and worked as a physicist before attending law school at the University.
Later he did post-doctoral work on the philosophy of law at Cornell University in New York. He began his legal career in the Minnesota Attorney Generalís office, then practiced law in Minneapolis, followed by eight years as Chisago County Attorney.
He was appointed to the bench on July 4, 1976.
In his letter to Governor Jesse Ventura, announcing his retirement, Slattengren thanked the people of Minnesota for allowing him to serve in ìthis rewarding position.î
He told the Governor he enjoyed the opportunity to work with many ìthoughtful, hard-working and dedicated judges who make up Minnesotaís judiciary.î
Slattengren drew attention to the dedication and hard work of ìmany underpaid people who work in our system - court administrators, law clerks, court reporters and other staff.î
Slattengren goes on to tell the Governor some specifics about how, in recent years, judicial workloads have skyrocketed while salaries have stagnated.
He noted that judges in Minnesota have the highest caseloads in the nation; each judge handling over 7,000 cases per year.
He said major caseloads jumped 700 percent since he became a judge in 1976. He also pointed out that the 10th Judicial District is short 4.15 judges, based on last yearís statistics, even to meet the 7,000 caseload level.
Slattengren told Gov. Ventura that based on the weighted caseload system, the average amount of time a judge can spend on a DWI is only 11.3 minutes.
Terminations of parental rights are allocated six hours.
He said he tried five terminations last year and the shortest trial lasted five days.
Judge Slattengren reminded the Governor that Minnesota judicial salaries rank 33rd in the country and judicial branch employees havenít had their pay scales evaluated in over a decade.
The judge also apprised the Governor on law clerk salaries, being $24,000/year. He reminds him that these clerks have been excellent students, hold a doctorate degree and are require to work full time with minimum benefits.
ìSo, as I leave,î Slattengren told Ventura, ìI urge that those whom I leave behind be given some consideration in this yearís budget.
In retirement, Judge Slatten-gren plans to continue working part time as a retired judge. He is also interested in Alternative Dispute Resolution.
The court system is an excellent way to resolve major disputes involving large sums of money or complex legal problems, he said, but added that it tends to be an ìinefficient institutionî to resolve more minor disputes.
Slattengren said the Supreme Court has encouraged the legal profession to use mediation and arbitration to resolve more of these kinds of cases, and he believes that it is a wise policy.
Because of this, he will be making himself available to help resolve disputes out of court.
ìHopefully, in this manner,î he said, ìI can continue to serve the people of the PICK counties.î
As for other retirement activities, Slattengren said, ìMaybe Iíll buy a fishing license, learn to golf and my wife and I will visit our grandchildren.î