Public Notice Detail
Minnesota District Court Judges Prepare for Service in Kosovo’s Courts
Posted: Thursday, November 7, 2002
District Court Judges Marilyn Justman Kaman and Daniel Mabley of Hennepin County, Edward Wilson of Ramsey County and Robert Carolan of Dakota County will become the first American judges to serve as part of UNMIK. Over the next six months, the judges will handle criminal cases, which could include war crimes, ethnic disputes, crimes committed by members of organized crime and crimes involving corruption by public officials.
“The Minnesota judges will help to bring justice and healing to this land slowly recovering from brutal ethnic violence, and the NATO campaign,” said U.S. District Judge John Tunheim, who has assisted UNMIK in establishing the Kosovar legal system and recommended the four judges to UNMIK. “They will have an incredible experience working alongside Kosovar judges to establish the rule of law.”
Judge Mabley plans to leave for Kosovo on November 11; Judge Kaman will leave one week later, on November 18; Judge Carolan has set a departure date of December 1; and Judge Wilson plans to begin his service on December 2.
Once they arrive in Kosovo, they will sit as part of the Kosovar judiciary as investigating, trial or appellate judges. They will be charged with enforcing and applying Kosovo’s laws and the interim United Nations rules in any one of five Kosovar districts in the cities of Pristina, Prizren, Peja, Mitrovica and Gjilane. Judges from several countries other than the United States have served in a similar capacity for the past two years.
UNMIK, the interim civilian administration in Kosovo, was established on June 10, 1999 by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244 as a result of the hostilities that erupted earlier that year. UNMIK maintains the peace and administers the government in the province while it attempts to reestablish public order and public institutions, many of which – including the court system – were incapacitated during the hostilities.
Judge Marilyn Justman Kaman
Judge Kaman was appointed to the Hennepin County District Court in January 1990. She has served there in the civil, criminal and family divisions, as well as the mental health division, where she was presiding judge from 1992-1994. In 1995, Governor Arne Carlson recognized her with the Marvelous Minnesota Woman Award for her work to reform laws pertaining to mental illness commitments. Prior to her appointment, she served as Assistant Hennepin County Public Defender (1984-1990) and has been an adjunct faculty member at the William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul. She began her law career as a municipal bond attorney at the Dorsey & Whitney law firm in Minneapolis. She graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1970 and studied at Leningrad State University in Russia. She earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Chicago in 1971 and her law degree cum laude from the University of Wisconsin in 1978.
Judge Daniel Mabley
Judge Mabley was appointed to the Hennepin County District Court in 1992, where he served as Chief Judge from 1996-2000. Prior to his appointment, he served as a prosecutor in the St. Paul City Attorney’s Office for four years and the Dakota County Attorney’s Office for two years. He also worked in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for 12 years, the last two of which as Chief of the Adult Criminal Division. He graduated from Carleton College and received his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. He has previously traveled to Russia and former Soviet states on seven different occasions to participate in legal seminars about criminal justice issues.
Judge Edward Wilson
Judge Wilson was appointed to the Ramsey County District Court in 1987. He served on the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission from 1990 until 2002. In 1998, he organized the Summit-University/Frogtown Community Sentencing Circle. He also served on the Supreme Court Racial Bias Task Force (1991-1993). In 1993, he traveled to Kenya to examine the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service’s policies toward Somali refugees. Prior to his appointment, he worked at the Neighborhood Justice Center in St. Paul (1979-1987) and for the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis (1974-1979). He also volunteers as chair of Project Remand, Inc. Board of Directors, and has served on the board of Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, Inc. (1986-1998). He graduated from Macalester College and earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School.
Judge Robert Carolan
Judge Carolan was appointed to the Dakota County District Court in 1987. Prior to his appointment, he served as Dakota County Attorney (1979-1987), Assistant Dakota County Attorney (1974-1979) and Special Assistant Minnesota Attorney General (1970-1974). He has been an adjunct faculty member in the trial advocacy and Legal Practicum program at William Mitchell College of Law for the past 20 years. He graduated from St. Mary’s College in Winona, Minn., and earned his law degree from the University of Iowa School of Law.