Three candidates for an opening on the Minnesota Supreme Court have been recommended to Gov. Mark Dayton, who will make the final choice.

The candidates, recommended by the Commission on Judicial Selection, are:

  • Judge Margaret H. Chutich of the state Appeals Court
  • Judge Natalie E. Hudson, also on the Appeals Court
  • Susan L. Segal, Minneapolis City Attorney

The commission interviewed and recommended the candidates for the Supreme Court justice position that will open at the end of August, when Justice Alan Page steps down upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Dayton will interview the finalists and make a choice in the next few weeks, his office said.

Bios of the three from the governor’s office:

  • Chutich serves as an at-large Judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. She previously served as Assistant Dean at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, as Deputy Attorney General of the Law Enforcement Section with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, and as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota. After clerking for the Honorable Diana E. Murphy in the United States District Court, Judge Chutich practiced with the law firms of Tanick & Heins and Opperman Heins & Paquin. Judge Chutich is a member of the Minnesota Women Lawyer’s Advisory Council and a former director of the YWCA of Minneapolis. 
  • Hudson serves as an at-large Judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Prior to her appointment to the Court of Appeals, she served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Minnesota in the Criminal Appeals and Health Licensing Divisions. Judge Hudson has also served as the City Attorney for the City of St. Paul, and was the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at the Hamline University School of Law. She is a member of the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division and is a member of the Minnesota Women Lawyers Advisory Board.
  • Segal currently serves as the Minneapolis City Attorney, the chief legal officer for the city, where she manages an office with 65 attorneys and is responsible for all of the City’s legal work and adult misdemeanor/gross misdemeanor prosecution. She was first appointed as City Attorney in 2008. Previously, she was the Chief Civil Deputy for the Hennepin County Attorney, the owner of Susan Segal, PLLC, and a partner at Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett, PA. Ms. Segal is the Chair of the Hennepin County Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee, a board member of the International Municipal Lawyers Association, and the immediate past President of the Minnesota City Attorney’s Association.

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1 Comment

  1. Congratulations and Good Luck, Judge Chutich

    As a graduate of Anoka High School, I remember the younger Peggy Chutich, who was the runner-up in the first State Girl’s Tennis Championship in 1974, then won the title in 1975. Judge Chutich continues to excel, and many of us have been proud to watch her significant career through the years!

    It appears the Governor has three excellent finalists to choose from, but we would all do well to have a Justice Chutich follow in the footsteps of Justice Page.

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