Supreme Court's chief justice says he'll step down

Chief Justice Russell Anderson says he's retiring to care for his ailing wife and because of his age. He would not detail his wife's health problems.

Anderson turns 66 in May, four years shy of the state's mandatory retirement age for judges.

While Anderson served for only two years as chief of the Minnesota Supreme Court, he was an associate justice for eight years. Before that, he was a judge for 16 years in Crookston.

Anderson said new blood is good for the court.

"I'm going to continue to speak out about the importance of a fair and impartial judiciary."

"The fact that I've been a judge for more than a quarter century, I think this is a good time to retire and so I'm going to do that on June the first," Anderson said.

As chief justice, Anderson championed a project to keep politics out of the judicial selection process. Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions freed judicial candidates to talk about legal and political issues that could come before them later as judges.

Worried that such speech could taint the impartiality of the courts, Anderson convened a bipartisan committee headed by former Gov. Al Quie to study the issue.

Just last week, Anderson told members of three state Senate committees that he supports a merit system for selecting judges -- that the public should not elect judges outright, only vote on whether to retain them in office.

Anderson says even when he's retired, the project will go forward.

"I'm going to continue to speak out about the importance of a fair and impartial judiciary," said Anderson. "There are many, many people enlisted in that cause. It is not dependent on me for its success and I will continue to speak out."

Anderson's brief tenure as chief justice has not been without controversy. About two years ago, then-DFL Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson told a group of pastors that several justices on the Minnesota Supreme Court assured him they would not overturn a state law banning same-sex marriage. Johnson later recanted and said he embellished those remarks.

In response to the complaints, the judicial ethics board investigated, but found no evidence, that any justice talked with Johnson about the Defense of Marriage law. Johnson later confirmed that no such talks happened and apologized on the Senate floor.

Gov. Pawlenty called Anderson an "extraordinary leader and public servant."

Praise came from Democrats as well. Rep. Bernie Lieder of Crookston, who periodically had lunch with the former Crookston judge, said he was "well-respected by practically everybody."

Anderso's departure means Pawlenty will have named a majority of justices over his five years in office.

Pawlenty previously named G. Barry Anderson, Lorie Gildea and Christopher Dietzen to the Supreme Court.

In Minnesota, judges don't require legislative confirmation. But they periodically stand for election while seldom facing stiff challenges.

Justices serve six-year terms, but they are also subject to a retirement age of 70. Associate justices are paid $141,729 annually, the chief justice $155,902.

No justice will reach mandatory retirement before Pawlenty's term expires in 2010.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)

Gallery

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

1 of 1

Next Slide