Minnesota Judge On Possible Biden Shortlist For Supreme Court

MINNEAPOLIS — Wilhelmina Wright, a United States judge for the District of Minnesota, could be on President Joe Biden's shortlist of potential nominees to replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Bryer.

Bryer plans to retire this summer. The news, which broke Wednesday, means Biden will have his first high court opening.

The president has pledged to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Democratic Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee, who sits on the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, tweeted Wednesday that Biden should consider appointing Wright to the Supreme Court.

Gov. Jesse Ventura appointed Wright to the Minnesota Court of Appeals in 2002, which she served on until 2012 when she was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Wright, the first Black woman to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court, was re-elected to the position in 2014.

In 2015, President Barack Obama appointed Wright to serve as a federal district court for the District of Minnesota, and she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2016.

Wright has also served as assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, a Ramsey County trial judge in St. Paul, and has taught at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.

Wright graduated with honors in Literature from Yale University in 1986, and she received her juris doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1989.