Gov. Dayton names Appeals Court Judge Wilhelmina Wright to Supreme Court

Gov. Mark Dayton Monday named Wilhelmina Wright, a judge on Minnesota's Court of Appeals, to be his first appointment to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Wright, 48, a former district court judge and federal prosecutor, replaces Helen Meyer, who retired this month. Wright becomes the first African-American woman to serve on the state's highest court. In 2000, she became the first African-American to serve as a Ramsey County District Court judge. Wright was one of four finalists for the position, which included David Lillehaug, a former U.S. Attorney for Minnesota who served as the lawyer for Dayton's 2010 gubernatorial campaign.Dayton is the first DFL governor since Rudy Perpich, who made his last Supreme Court appointment in January of 1991. This is the first appointment made by a DFL governor since then. Five of the current justices were appointed by Republican governors, and a fifth, Justice Alan Page, obtained his office through election. Wright praised both Rosalie Wahl, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, and Page, the first African American. "My path has been paved by these two extraordinary justices," she told a news conference.