FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 18, 2023
Contact: Claire Lancaster
claire.lancaster@state.mn.us
651-219-2975
Governor’s Merit Selection Panel Recommends Court of Appeals Candidates
[ST. PAUL, MN] – Earlier
this year, Governor Walz asked a merit selection panel to solicit
applicants, review candidates, and recommend finalists for appointment
to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The panel includes the chair and
at-large members of the Commission on Judicial Selection and other
administration leaders.
Today,
the panel announced that it is recommending three candidates from that
applicant pool for consideration to fill the current vacancy on the
Minnesota Court of Appeals. The vacancy occurred upon the resignation of
the Honorable Jeffrey M. Bryan, who was recently appointed to the
United States District Court for the District of Minnesota by President
Joe Biden.
Rachel Bond: Rachel
Bond is a managing attorney in the Office of the Minnesota Appellate
Public Defender, where she supervises a team of attorneys and represents
criminal defendants in their direct appeals to the Minnesota Court of
Appeals and Minnesota Supreme Court. She was previously an attorney at
Faegre & Benson LLP and Shearman & Sterling, as well as a law
clerk to the Honorable Boyce F. Martin Jr. on the United States Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Bond’s community involvement includes
serving as a member of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee for the
Minnesota Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure and an adjunct professor at
Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Bond’s community involvement also
includes serving on the board of the Great North Innocence Project and
as a judge for the William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court
Competition.
JaPaul Harris:
JaPaul Harris serves as a judge in the Second Judicial District in
Ramsey County. He previously served as a judicial referee in Hennepin
County, presiding over housing, harassment, juvenile, and civil
commitment matters. Harris also serves as the chair of the Minnesota
Supreme Court’s Juvenile Rules Advisory Committee. Harris’s community
involvement includes serving as co-chair of the Ramsey County Youth
Justice Transformation Initiative, as chair of the Equal Justice
Committee for the Second Judicial District and various statewide
committees, and as a member of the board of the Volunteer Lawyers
Network.
Sarah Hennesy:
Sarah Hennesy is the chief judge of the Seventh Judicial District and
is chambered in St. Cloud. She previously practiced law in both
appellate and trial courts as an appellate public defender in Iowa, as a
criminal defense attorney in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, and as a
staff attorney at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid in St. Cloud. Hennesy also
serves as chair of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the General
Rules of Practice. Her community involvement includes speaking at
Minnesota Women Lawyers Association and other legal organization events,
volunteering as a judge and coach for mock trial teams, and working
with local schools to help students learn about the judiciary.
For more information about the judicial selection process, please visit the Governor’s Judicial Appointments webpage.
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