Dayton to start interviewing state Supreme Court candidates
The Commission on Judicial Selection announced today that it is recommending four candidates for a vacancy on Minnesota's Supreme Court.
The candidates are Ramsey County District Court Judge Tanya Bransford, Minnesota Court of Appeals judges Margaret Chutich and Wilhelmina Wright and former U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug.
Lillehaug is best known for his work in DFL politics and constitutional cases. He worked on the 2008 U.S Senate recount and the 2010 gubernatorial recount. He successfully challenged Minnesota's handgun permit law and also worked on lawsuit that challenged then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unilateral budget cuts through a process known as unallotment in 2009.
Wright chaired the 2010 Redistricting panel that drew the state's political boundaries.
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Bransford manages a block of civil, felony and property cases in Ramsey County and currently works as the presiding Juvenile Court judge.
Chutich serves as Assistant Dean at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs and also was a deputy state attorney general.
Dayton's office says the governor will make the appointment to the Supreme Court after he interviews the four candidates.
This will be Dayton's first appointment to the high court. He'll be filling a vacancy created when Justice Helen Meyer leaves. She announced her retirement earlier this year.