AAUW brings in speakers

In the wake of a surge in legal cases brought on by immigration arrests, Minnesota’s courts and judicial system are under scrutiny.

Students and community members were able to glimpse into just what the judicial system looks like at an event held on Tuesday, March 10 in Upper Gorecki.

“Since the start of the year, there have been nearly 1,000 petitions from people challenging their detention in Minnesota. For context, not a single person challenged their detention during the first two months of 2025,” writes KSTP 5 Eyewitness News.

Put on by the McCarthy Center in collaboration with the St. Cloud American Association of University Women (AAUW), this event brought in two guest speakers to educate the public on the innerworkings of the judicial system.

The first keynote speaker was Deputy Chief U.S. Probation Officer, Nicole Smith, who grew up near the CSB+SJU campuses.

Smith remarked on the impact that the case of Jacob Wetterling, the eleven-year-old boy who was abducted near his St. Joseph home in 1989 and remained an unsolved case until 2016, had on her life and the pursuit of her career in justice.

Patty Wetterling, Jacob’s mother and national advocate for children’s safety, was in the audience.

“Tonight we remember Jacob and support you, Patty, and your unwavering commitment to pursue justice,” Smith said directly to Wetterling during her talk.

Smith attended Apollo High School and graduated from St. Cloud State University, where she had her first interaction with law enforcement at a school career fair.

Smith said that this career fair sparked the first interest she had in criminal justice.

Smith shared her own experience as deputy chief and the value of this role.

“We are the eyes and ears of the court and take pride in advancing the administration of justice,” Smith said.

She also noted that with this responsibility comes a large amount of challenges, especially in the current climate.

“The work performed is not done in a vacuum. It can be challenging and emotionally damaging,” Smith said.

The second keynote speaker was Laura M. Provinzino, a U.S. District Judge for Minnesota whose presence was not revealed until the beginning of the event for security reasons.

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University similarly played a role in Provinzino’s life, with her father having played football for St. John’s and who herself taught as an instructor for the Upward Bound program at CSB+SJU.

“The College of St. Ben’s and St. John’s shaped me long before I stepped into a court room, so it is an honor to be back,” Provinzino said.

Provinzino shared the early origins of her life’s ambition, which has culminated into her nomination by former U.S. President Joe Biden and a bipartisan vote into the seat she now holds.

At the age of six, she heard that former U.S. President Ronald Reagan had appointed Sandra Day O’Connor as the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Staging her talk, she shared a quote by Sandra Day that informs her community work.

“We don’t accomplish anything in this world alone… and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one’s life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something,” Day O’Connor said.

Provinzino informed the audience that the U.S. District Court of MN is a general trial court, the frontline court of the federal judiciary.

This means that the judges are not specialized but rather expected to be competent across the range of federal law, managing a docket of hundreds of cases simultaneously.

She shared that some of the judges have faced personal threats during this challenging time, all of which are amplified by the usage of social media.

She shares, however, that for as long as there has been a judiciary, there has been backlash.

“Through all of it, the judiciary has upheld its core commitments,” Provinzino said. “I approach judging from a place of curiosity… and never fear.”

She also highlighted the purpose and steadfastness of the law through these challenges.

“The law exists to protect people: The powerful and the powerless; the rich and the poor; the old and the young; U.S. citizens and non- citizens,” Provinzino said. “That understanding is what I carry with me onto the bench each and every day.”

SJU sophomore Patrick Immelman attended the event and said that it was particularly impactful to meet these figures in the current political climate.

“I thought it was pretty interesting to get kind of an inside scoop from someone in the judiciary system,” Immelman said. “Especially because right now, they’re under a lot of tension with the executive branch.”

Provinzino’s Oxford classmate and former National Security Advisor of the U.S. Jake Sullivan will be carrying on these and other conversations at the 19th Annual McCarthy Lecture on Thursday, March 12 at SJU’s Stephen B. Humphrey Theatre.