[Mpls] Campaign lit issue continued

[Phyllis Kahn]

 The initial complaint was made by a woman who claimed that her piece
was missing and her address is listed specifically in the complaint. 
The problem - I was never on that side of the street, at her door.  Not
wanted to exacerbate the situation, I never asserted my constitutional
rights (including the 5th amendment.)  The appearance of two squad cars
with flashing lights and a statement that I could be put in handcuffs
seemed somewhat unusual for the level of offence against society.    The
summons was originally written for "lurking with intent".    A
seasoned prosecutor told us he had only seen that charge applied to
African Americans.

While I was definitely guilty of taking the campaign literature, I felt
that there was as much of an effort to expose my activity in the press 
as there was an attempt to prosecute me successfully.  The decisions
made by the prosecuting attorney made  were always first announced to
the press and  I found out about them through press inquiries. . These
actions may not have illegal or strictly unethical but they certainly
were unfair. The story had surprisingly wide coverage, getting to the LA
Times, Des Moines Register, Miami Herald and the Detroit Free Press.  It
didn't make it to the New York Times so I was spared explaining it to
my 98 year old father-in-law.

Maybe it was  time that a high profile case like mine was actually
prosecuted so that other persons would be deterred from acting
similarly.  Nevertheless it  didn't feel  good to be picked out as the
"poster child" for bad campaign habits.  In researching similar
historic cases of theft of literature or destruction of lawn signs, we
found that at least one person had previously been charged. We could
find no records of any previous prosecutions.

Finally, almost like experiencing a near death episode, I was
overwhelmed by expressions of love, support and encouragement, for which
I will be eternally grateful.  It did lead to insights on the current
perception of a decline in civility.  Personal contacts, completed phone
calls and letters were invariably sympathetic and supportive.  More
often e-mails and published letters were negative and often called for
extreme vengeful penalties.  

Since I was a child, I've known that it's never OK to do something
wrong just because everyone or almost everyone is doing it. Again I am
offering an apology, which I hope can be accepted with the spirit of
forgiveness I would  to see extended to other miscreants in our effort
to achieve a more tolerant civil society. 

Phyllis Kahn State Rep 59B