This has been quite a journey. For the last six months, Attorney Willow Anderson and I have been working on Mike Forcia’s case, pro bono. He was charged with felony criminal damage to property for pulling down the statue of Christopher Columbus in front of the Capitol in St. Paul on June 10, 2020.

In that time, we have been working on a restorative justice and even a transformative justice model to address what happened, how it impacted various communities and how to address the harm of pulling down the statue and even the harm that putting the statue up had on other people. This is not simple and absolutely does not fit into a soundbite.

We appeared or were referenced on KARE 11, Fox 9, WCCO Radio, Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, MPR are more following the hearing before Chief Judge Leonardo Castro in Ramsey County. Today, Judge Castro accepted agreement that will insure that Mr. Forcia’s case will be dismissed outright in the event that he does 100 hours of community service doing restorative justice and he writes a letter addressing the harm caused. To help make this happen has been nothing short of an honor for both of us.

It has been extraordinary and Ms. Anderson and I will certainly see this as a career highlight for both of us.