Associate Justice David Lillehaug plans to step down from the Minnesota Supreme Court in about a year, citing a diagnosis of early stage Parkinson’s disease and saying he wants more time for travel and outdoor activities with his wife. Governor Tim Walz says Lillehaug has spent a lifetime serving Minnesota and the U-S, and has a sterling reputation as a jurist. The governor says, “We’re saddened by the news, but I also think, all you have to do is be on the phone for 30 seconds with David Lillehaug and you turn optimistic and you see the rightness in the way he’s going.”
Lillehaug’s pending departure means Walz will be making his first state Supreme Court appointment. The governor says he wants someone dedicated to constitutional law with a “sense of compassion and proportionality” in administering justice.