2 days Ago By Lauren Breunig
ST. CLOUD — Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Sarah Hennesy highlighted the importance of an impartial judiciary during a Q&A session with St. Cloud business leaders at the St.
Cloud Chamber of Commerce office on Wednesday morning, April 16. Hennesy, a St. Cloud resident, discussed the role of the judiciary, what it means to be a judge and why the state Supreme Court should not be politicized.
“The judicial branch is meant to provide stability by relying on past precedents and not following politics,” said Hennesy, who was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz in May 2024. “That’s the quiet power of the court.
We’re here to make sense, not to make headlines.” Hennesy is the only justice who lives in Greater Minnesota. She commutes from St.
Cloud to St. Paul — listening to audiobooks when she is stuck in traffic — when the court is in session, she said. Before serving on the state Supreme Court, Hennesy served as the chief judge of the Seventh Judicial District, which has its office in the Stearns County Courthouse in downtown St.
Cloud. Despite being appointed by the governor, state Supreme Court and district court judges are apolitical and go through a long, in-depth vetting process to examine legal knowledge, temperament and skill, Hennesy said. The whole process is removed from discussion of politics and personal beliefs, she added.
After completing their first term, which starts after they are appointed, judges must be reelected to their seats by the public. “This is to make sure that the people have a say in the judiciary and weigh in on the job you have been doing,” Hennesy said. The challenge is to avoid the election process becoming too politicized, the justice said.
As an example, Hennesy pointed to the hyper-politicization of the Wisconsin state supreme court race. On April 1, voters rejected the Elon Musk-backed, conservative candidate Brad Schimel in favor of liberal Susan Crawford, according to an NPR report. Campaign spending for both candidates reached $100 million.
“The laws in Wisconsin aren’t too different from the ones in Minnesota,” Hennesy said. “It comes down to how we handle things.”.
