Beginning Experience retreat is canceled

The Beginning Experience Weekend Retreat originally scheduled for April 3-5 has been canceled. The next retreat is scheduled for October.

ACLU-MN alleges US citizen unlawfully detained

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota is suing the federal government on behalf of a U.S. citizen who alleges he was unlawfully detained.

The ACLU-MN filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Minnesota on behalf of Ali Abdalla. Abdalla came to the U.S. as a Somali refugee. When his father became a U.S. citizen, Abdalla — who was a teenager at the time — automatically became one, too.

But Abdalla alleges U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unlawfully held him for 11 months in three different jails — including for five months after a judge ruled he was a citizen while the government appealed.

Abdalla had suffered a traumatic brain injury at an old job, and officials at Nobles County Jail provided him anxiety medication, the ACLU-MN said. But when he was transferred to Sherburne County Jail, workers refused to let him take that medication, the organization alleges.

The lawsuit alleges false arrest, false imprisonment and deprivation of liberty without due process. It seeks damages and requests a jury trial.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minneapolis said Thursday the office declines comment at this time. Sherburne County Attorney Kathleen Heaney said she had not received the complaint and could not comment.

Klobuchar’s husband back home after virus hospitalization

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s husband has been released from a hospital where he was being treated for low oxygen and pneumonia as a result of the coronavirus, the senator said Thursday.

Klobuchar, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said in a statement that her husband, John Bessler, “took a good turn, was just released and is now recovering at home.”

“Thanks to those who cared for him and for all front line health care workers,” she said. Klobuchar announced Monday that Bessler has the coronavirus and was admitted to a Virginia hospital where he was placed on oxygen, but not a ventilator.

Bessler, a law professor at the University of Baltimore, became ill when he was in Washington and Klobuchar was in Minnesota, she said. He initially thought he had a cold, but quarantined himself immediately anyway. He got tested after he began coughing up blood, and was admitted to the hospital, where he was put on oxygen but not a ventilator.

Klobuchar said earlier this week that she and Bessler had been in different places and she was outside the 14-day window for getting sick, so her doctor advised her not to get tested herself.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

Klobuchar said Monday that it took five days for Bessler to be tested, noting that such delays are a problem facing many.

Bessler has taught at the University of Baltimore School of Law since 2009. According to a bio on the university’s website, he teaches courses in civil procedure, contracts, capital punishment, international human rights law and other topics. He is also an author.

During Klobuchar’s campaign for president, he was often by her side. When Klobuchar was in Washington during impeachment proceedings and couldn’t campaign in Iowa herself, Bessler and the couple’s daughter acted as her surrogates, and met with countless Iowa voters on her behalf.