Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson will soon retire from the high court after serving as the state’s first Black chief justice.
Gov. Tim Walz on Monday thanked Hudson for her service and said her career was “marked by profound integrity, wisdom and grace.”
“Chief Justice Hudson stands among the giants of Minnesota history,” Walz said in a statement. “She will be remembered not only for the glass ceilings she shattered but for a lifetime of service to those seeking fairness and justice in our courts. The rule of law is stronger than ever in Minnesota, and it is in no small part due to her steady leadership.”
Among her most memorable decisions was a dissent in Cruz-Guzman v. the State of Minnesota, the long-running school desegregation lawsuit: Hudson decried the decision’s mandate that parents prove that racial segregation causes academic disparities.
“This holding amounts to closing our eyes to what history and modern reality have demonstrated to be true: Where racially segregated neighborhoods exist, the historical result has been racialized disparities in academic outcomes.”
Walz appointed Hudson as chief justice in 2023. Hudson was a judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals for 13 years, and former DFL Gov. Mark Dayton appointed her to the Supreme Court in 2015. Prior to the Supreme Court, Hudson worked in the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office for eight years in criminal appellate law.
Walz’s office said details about who will succeed Hudson are forthcoming.
Minnesota has a mandatory retirement age of 70 for state court judges, and Hudson will turn 70 in January.
Three of the seven justices on the Minnesota Supreme Court were appointed by Walz, and Walz elevated Hudson to the chief justice seat. All seven were appointed by Democratic governors.
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