1. Wilhelmina Marie Wright was born on January 13,1964 and is an inactive senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.
17 Facts About Wilhelmina Wright
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Wilhelmina Wright is the only jurist in Minnesota's history to be state district court judge, appellate court judge and state supreme court justice.
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Wilhelmina Wright was formerly an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, a judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and a judge of the Minnesota District Court, Second Judicial District.
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Wilhelmina Wright received her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1989.
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Wilhelmina Wright served as a law clerk for Judge Damon Keith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1989 to 1991.
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Between 2000 and 2002, Wilhelmina Wright was involved with the Minnesota State Bar Association Task Force on the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the Minnesota Judicial Council, and the Minnesota Courts Public Trust and Confidence Work Group, as a judge for the Ramsey County District Court.
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Wilhelmina Wright was the first African American woman to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court.
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Wilhelmina Wright's tenure began on September 27,2012, and ended in 2016; in 2014, Wright was reelected and served part of a term that was to end in 2020, but then moved to serve federally.
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Wilhelmina Wright was appointed to the seat vacated by Judge Michael J Davis, Minnesota's first Black federal judge, who assumed senior status on August 1,2015.
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Wilhelmina Wright was ranked Unanimously Well Qualified for this federal position by the American Bar Association.
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Wilhelmina Wright received her commission on February 18,2016, and continues to serve as a US district judge.
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In January 2022, after Justice Stephen Breyer announced his intention to retire, Wilhelmina Wright was mentioned as a possible nominee to the Supreme Court by President Joe Biden.
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On November 30,2023, it was announced that Wilhelmina Wright would retire from the bench on February 15,2024.
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On February 15,2024, Wilhelmina Wright assumed inactive senior status, even though she has not obtained the statutory service requirements, 65 years of age, ten years of Article III service, and a total of age and service years equal to 80.
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In 1997, Justice Wilhelmina Wright earned the United States Department of Justice Special Achievement Award and in 2000, she earned the United States Department of Justice Director's Award for Public Service.
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Wilhelmina Wright serves in the American Bar Association, the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Ramsey County Bar Association, the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers, and the National Association of Women Judges.
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Wilhelmina Wright is a member of the William Mitchell College of Law Board of Trustees, the Hubert H Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs Advisory Council, the Minnesota Lawyer Advisory Board, and the Yale University Council.