Minnesota voters will encounter only one statewide contest on their Aug. 9 primary ballots. It should give them little difficulty and considerable satisfaction to elect Supreme Court Associate Justice Natalie Hudson to a full term on the high court.
Hudson, 59, was appointed last summer to fill the Supreme Court seat long held by Justice Alan Page. She accepted an early (October 2015) date to join the court, which had a noteworthy effect under rules established in the Minnesota Constitution: It brings Hudson before voters after just 13 months as a Supreme Court justice.
Had she delayed her seating just another month, Hudson's first election would have been postponed until 2018 — giving her two more years to build presence and name recognition. Such strategic timing is routine among appointed judges. But Hudson says she believed it was important to show respect for voters.
It's a characteristic decision from a judge with a humble appreciation for the weighty responsibilities of the judicial branch. Voters should take appreciative note of it.
Justice Hudson brings to the court a distinguished and varied legal background. She began her career as a Legal Aid lawyer representing indigent clients, then worked as a private employment attorney, and then as a law school administrator at Hamline University. She served two years as St. Paul's city attorney and eight handling criminal appeals for the state attorney general's office.
Hudson's service on the appellate bench began in 2002, when Gov. Jesse Ventura appointed her to the state Court of Appeals, where she has heard many hundreds of cases over 14 years.
It adds up to an unsurpassed depth and breadth of experience with legal issues and litigants of every imaginable kind.
Hudson approvingly describes the court she joined last fall as somewhat "formal" — a place where courtesy and protocol make possible vigorous but constructive debate over the momentous issues that come before the justices. She laments the partisanship and politicization seen in courts and judicial elections in other states — but not, to date, in Minnesota.
