The following article summarizes the original event which is listed below the summary.
Providing justice to Minnesota
Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea returned to campus to speak to the retirees association at our March forum. She offered a comprehensive review of the Minnesota judicial system, addressing everything from the selection of judges and the handling of 1.3 million cases annually, to the emergence of treatment courts throughout the state. Gildea has been chief justice for nine years. During her tenure, Minnesota’s court system has been called out by experts as one of the two best-managed in the country (along with Utah).
Gildea is an iconic University of Minnesota success story. She is from a small town in northern Minnesota, a distinguished graduate of U of M Morris, and a lawyer who represented the University for 11 years. She told us her great passions in life are the University and providing justice to the citizens of Minnesota. One of her major issues, Gildea said, is assuring that self-represented litigants are properly supported in Minnesota’s judicial system. “If U.S. Bank Stadium (66,000 people) were filled with individuals in need of legal aid there would be only 22 legal aid attorneys to assist them,” is how she characterized the current “justice gap.”
She also described a number of treatment courts that have been created across the state to assure justice and appropriate referrals for drug and DWI offenders, family dependency cases, as well as juvenile, mental health, and veterans affairs. “Studies show these courts work,” she said.
Gildea emphasized the need for judicial selection to be free of partisan politics. In her view we need to avoid the politicization of judicial elections and promote the selection of men and women for our courts based on their merits and experience, not their affiliations.
Finally, she talked about the modernization of the courts through electronic filing systems, and ended with a call for us to assist in keeping Minnesota’s judiciary among the nation’s leading systems. Specifically, she urged us to become involved in guardian ad litem programs, which are desperately in need of volunteers.
It was an engaging presentation that concluded with an enthusiastic set of questions from our members, which were addressed articulately.
Go here to see the slides from Gildea’s presentation.
—Bill Donohue, Program Committee chair and president-elect
We welcome Lorie Gildea back to campus
Tue, March 26 2019, 11:30am
West Wing Dining Room, Campus Club, Fourth Floor, Coffman Memorial Union
We are pleased to announce that Lorie Skjerven Gildea, chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, will speak to UMRA at our March 26 luncheon. Among other things, she will comment on the effectiveness of the judicial system in Minnesota and her own work as chief justice. Gildea is a devoted fan of Gophers athletics and we expect she will express her thoughts in that realm as well. She is an engaging and eloquent speaker you will enjoy hearing.
Gildea is Minnesota’s 22nd chief justice and has served in that role since 2010. Before that appointment she served as an associate justice on the Supreme Court for four years, and as a district court judge and prosecutor in Hennepin County.
Perhaps more importantly for our purposes she is an outstanding graduate of the University of Minnesota Morris, a perfect 4.0 student who earned her undergraduate degree in three years and once said, “The day I decided to attend UMM was one of the best days of my life.” She was honored with UMM’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007.
From 1993 to 2004, Gildea, a native of Plummer in northwest Minnesota, served as a litigator in the University’s Office of General Counsel, representing the University in the most difficult and controversial matters.
Gildea graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center and for several years worked in private practice for a well-known firm in Washington, D.C. She currently serves as chair of the Minnesota Judicial Council and last year was appointed by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts to serve on the Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction.
Chief Justice Gildea is a hugely accomplished lawyer and an even better human being. Please welcome her back to campus and to our March forum.
—Bill Donohue, president-elect and chair, Program Committee
Upcoming Events
Our July 15 "hike" is going to be a kayaking adventure on Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) and Lake of the Isles! If you don't have a kayak (or paddleboard), Wheel Fun Rentals, located next to the new concession stand rents single kayaks at $15 an hour and double kayaks at $25. The second hour is free if we rent before noon. Life jackets are provided with the rental.
Laura Ericksen will lead the discussion of How Stella Learned to Talk by Christina Hunger, a true story by a speech-language pathologist who taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using buttons associated with different words.
Our August 5 hike will be a reprise of our hike last summer at William O'Brien State Park. This is a beautiful park with a winding trail and a great view of the countryside. The hike is about 5.5 to 6 miles and we'll go at a moderate pace with frequent water breaks. After the hike, we will eat lunch at Rustic Roots Winery, a half mile north of the park.
Kathy Cramer will lead the discussion of The Bookbinder by Pip Williams, a book set in 1914 Oxford chronicling the life of Peggy who works in the University bindery, but craves a life beyond binding books but to being a scholar herself.
Enjoy a two-hour cruise on the Jonathan Padelford, leaving from the Harriet Island dock in St. Paul, boarding time at 5:30 p.m. We will have a brief program on board by Patrick Nunnally from the River Life Program of the Institute on the Environment.
August 31 is the due date for annual reports and updates. Annual Reports, Toolkits, web page updates, operating document updates and archives collections are all due each year on this date.
Autumn is a wonderful season in Minnesota so plan to join UMRA at the Andersen Horticultural Library at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Kristen Mastel, head librarian and curator, will reveal its treasure trove of publications and artifacts relating to plant history, horticulture, and natural history. After the tour, those who are interested may stay to eat lunch together, sitting outside if the weather is nice. Later, you are invited to a one-hour tram tour of the entire Arboretum that includes natural areas of flowering shrubs, bogs, and forests, family garden and landscaping showpieces, and the red barn farm
After a summer break the UMRA Photo Club will next meet September 10, 2024 in the meeting room of the Hennepin County St. Anthony Branch Library. For those interested in lunch, meet at the Great Dragon at 11:30 am. For September the THEME will be Curves
We will continue to discuss the pros and cons of Medicare Advantage. You will also hear about notable non-health plan and non-broker resources.