Judge Lorie Skjerven Gildea

In these final months of his run as governor, talk already has begun of Tim Pawlenty’s legacy.

One area seems firm now: He has created a Supreme Court that is conservative.

This morning, in a room jammed with friends, family, judges and reporters, Pawlenty announced that he has promoted Lorie Skjerven Gildea to be the chief justice of the state’s highest court.

Additionally, he named David Stras, a former law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a member of the Federalist Society, to fill the opening on the court created when the current chief justice, Eric Magnuson, announced that he would leave the court next month.

Given the ages of Gildea, 48, and Stras, who at 35 may be the state’s youngest judge ever, the decisions of these judges will be around long after Pawlenty is gone.

Judge David Stras

It’s safe to assume that had Stras been on the bench a few weeks ago, Pawlenty’s unallotment use would not have been ruled unconstitutional. In that case, recall, that Gildea defended Pawlenty’s unallotments with a strong minority dissent from the 4-3 majority. Stras, a University of Minnesota law professor, wrote a brief in support of the legality of the governor’s use of the unallotment statute.

Not surprisingly, neither the governor nor Gildea nor Stras would comment about what might have been, or what might be in the future, in the area of unallotments.

“The unallotment case has been decided,’’ Pawlenty said.

Gildea and Stras made roughly the same comment, both adding that as judges, it would be inapprorpriate for them to comment on any future case that might come before the court.

Pawlenty didn’t come right out and say he valued “conservative” in the qualities he was seeking in filling the two positions. Rather, he used the word “restraint’’ in talking about what he wants in a court member.

He was, he said, looking for people “who interpret the law as written.’’

Gildea, in dissenting from the majority on the unallotment case, used virtually that same language.

“The judiciary's duty is simply to apply the law as written by the Legislature,’’ she wrote in her strong dissent, adding that her colleagues in the majority had to jump to conclusions to come to the decision that the Pawlenty unallotments overstepped executive bounds.

Magnuson, who also was a Pawlenty appointee, wrote the majority opinion in the unallotment case.

Stras received most of the attention from the media, for two reasons: connections to Clarence Thomas and to the Federalist Society.

In his comments in accepting Pawlenty’s appointment, Stras called Thomas “my mentor.’’

Asked later about whether he shares Thomas’s views of the law, Stras again called Thomas “my mentor. ... But we have differences in our approach.’’

What does that mean?

Stras suggested that reporters spend some time reading his “scholarly papers.’’

The other flag on Stras’ biography is his membership in the Federalist Society. That organization was formed by students at the University of Chicago in the early 1980s as an antidote to what they saw as the liberal orthodoxy of the courts. There are now 20,000 members of the society. Those members operate on the premise that the courts should make rulings based on what the law says, not what judges think it should say.

Both Stras and Gildea have extraordinary academic records. Stras was a star student at the University of Kansas School of Law, who went to work as a clerk for two federal court justices, then spent a year in private practice in Washington, D.C., before accepting the clerkship under Thomas.

He came to Minnesota as a member of the University of Minnesota law school faculty in 2004, quickly earning tenure. He also does work for the Minneapolis law firm Faegre and Benson.

Pawlenty said that he had met Stras on a few occasions, but he sounded as if the Stras appointment was something of a late development in his thinking.

Pawlenty had appointed Gildea to the high court 2006. She, too, was a superstar law student, attending Georgetown University. Following graduation, she practiced law for a firm in D.C., returning to Minnesota as a University of Minnesota lawyer in 1993. In 2004, she worked briefly for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, was appointed to the Hennepin County District Court by Pawlenty in 2005. Four months later, he appointed her to the Supreme Court.

In accepting the promotion, Gildea thanked former Justice Rosalie Wahl, the first female member of the court, and Kathleen Blatz, the first female chief justice, “for lighting your lamps.’’

In those remarks, she also spoke warmly of Pawlenty’s leadership in Minnesota.

“Thank you for all the good and great things you do for Minnesota,’’ she said.

She wasn’t quite so warm when talking about legislators, whom she described as “well meaning.’’

One other point about Gildea and Stras: Not only are they young and appear to be solidly conservative. They’re also short.

Gildea eyed up Stras and said, “I may no longer be the shortest person on the court.’’

Doug Grow writes about public affairs, state politics and other topics. He can be reached at dgrow [at] minnpost [dot] com.