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Volume 10 Issue 1 September 14, 2016 Bar Talk www.fedbar.org/ Minnesota.html President’s Welcome By Tara Norgard Twelve years ago, I walked firm was new Inside This Issue: into my first FBA event just and there was- days after having landed here n’t an estab- from where I started my ca- lished group in Judge Davis 3 reer in another city. The thing the habit of Receives I remember most is this: the attending. I’d Sarah T. feeling of being welcomed. take a deep Hughes Civil People who did not know my breath at the Rights Award name—but recognized me as threshold of the new to this community— Palomino, walk Tara Norgard reached out and made me feel into the noon Three Minne- 6 like I belonged. By the end of hour gatherings, and look this, chances are that some- sota Attorneys that event, I was a member of around the room for an empty one reached out to you at Elected to the committee that was plan- chair. Without fail (and to my some point in your career, Positions at ning the annual seminar. I’m great relief), I was invited to brought you to a lunch, invit- the National not even sure I was asked. I sit, introduced to others, and ed you to speak at an event, or was just brought into the fold. made part of the conversation. even just asked you about FBA Then I started going to the your practice as you waited in monthly lunches, usually by My experience is not line for a name tag. What Barriers to 7 myself because, like me, my unique. If you are reading Continued on page 5. Voting by Persons with Disabilities “The Law Affects Everyday People in Their Most Important Affairs”: Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright Chapter Hosts 9 By Adine S. Momoh Delegates from Kosovo On February 18, 2016, Wil- the vacancy created when order allowing for desegrega- Bar Associa- helmina M. Wright took the Judge Michael J. Davis took tion in the wake of Brown v. tion oath of office to become the senior status. Board of Education. Both of 35th U.S. District Judge for her parents were first- the U.S. District Court for the Roots in Norfolk, Virginia generation college graduates. Pro Bono 10 District of Minnesota. Chief Judge Wright was aware of As professors at Norfolk State Spotlight: Judge John R. Tunheim ad- the law at a young age. She University, Judge Wright’s Lind, Jensen, ministered the oath to Judge was born and raised in Nor- mother and father wanted Sullivan & Wright in a private ceremony, folk, Virginia. When Judge Judge Wright and her brother and a public investiture cere- William (now a retired invest- Peterson Wright was in school, Norfolk, mony was held at the Land- Virginia was in the process of ment banker in New York) to mark Center on July 18, 2016. ending its resistance to deseg- have a high-quality education. Judge Wright was nominated regation. She saw her mother It was no surprise that see- by President Barack Obama maneuver through a process ing her parents as her biggest on April 15, 2015, and was in which schools in Norfolk role models, Judge Wright confirmed by the U.S. Senate had to comply with a court initially wanted to be a teach- on January 19, 2016. She fills Continued on page 2. 2 is to ensure that when there is a better course of action one should take, that there is a way to talk about how to pursue that better course of action next time and to instill confidence in the lawyer through imputed wisdom in that person’s development.” Passion for Public Service Judge Wright practiced at Hogan for four years before moving to Minne- sota and joining the U.S. Attorney's Office in 1995 as an Assistant United States Attorney. Because she previous- ly represented school districts, her transition to the public sector was quite natural. In her words, she “was looking at a different side of the Code.” As a member of the Criminal Division, she represented the United States in Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright is sworn in as the 35th U.S. District Judge for the U.S. complex economic fraud cases and vio- District Court for the District of Minnesota. lent crime cases in the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Wright, continued from page 1. for the Eighth Circuit. She was award- people in their most important affairs. ed the U.S. Department of Justice Spe- -er. She majored in literature at Yale This value continues to inform her cial Achievement Award in 1997 and University, graduating with honors in work to this day. Judge Wright strives the U.S. Department of Justice Direc- 1986. After graduation, she considered to treat all people who enter her court- tor's Award for Public Service in 2000. becoming a literature professor at an room with dignity and respect. She Ivy League institution or becoming a strives to write with a level of clarity In 2000, Judge Wright was appoint- civil rights attorney to help make sure so that her opinions and decisions do ed as a trial judge on the Ramsey everyone had access to higher educa- not need to be translated by an attor- County District Court in Saint Paul. tion. The law won. While in law school, ney. She stated, “The case truly be- While on the Ramsey County bench, Judge Wright was a member of the longs to the parties, and I write my she served as a member of the Minne- Women Law Students Association, opinions with this thought in mind.” sota Courts Public Trust and Confi- Black Law Students Association and Judge Wright considers Judge Keith to dence Work Group and the Minnesota the Civil Rights Liberties Law Review. not only be a key mentor of hers, but State Bar Association Task Force on She received her juris doctor from Har- also a member of her extended family. the American Bar Association Model vard Law School in 1989. Rules of Professional Conduct. In 2002, After her clerkship, Judge Wright Judge Wright was appointed to the Mentors, Champions, and Spon- practiced with the Washington, D.C., Minnesota Court of Appeals and was a sors law firm of Hogan & Hartson, LLP member of the Minnesota Judicial (now Hogan Lovells). In the education Council. She served on the Minnesota After law school, Judge Wright and litigation practice groups, she pri- Court of Appeals until Governor Mark clerked for the Honorable Damon J. marily represented school districts Dayton appointed her to the Minnesota Keith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for across the nation seeking to enhance Supreme Court in 2012. She served on the Sixth Circuit. Judge Wright saw educational opportunities for public the Minnesota Supreme Court until clerking as an opportunity to comple- school students. While at Hogan, her appointment to the federal court ment her legal education. She looked Judge Wright practiced closely with bench in 2016. for judges who had experience in edu- Allen Snyder, a partner who became cation and civil rights law. As she nar- an informal and formal mentor to her. Re-Joining the Federal Court Fam- rowed her search, she learned more He took an interest in her career and ily about Judge Keith and his prior prac- her practice. Judge Wright credits Al- tice as a civil rights lawyer in Michi- len for strengthening her self confi- Judge Wright joyfully recounted, “It gan. As a judge, he had presided over dence and making her a better lawyer. is great to be back in the federal court several integration and desegregation He demanded high standards with family.” That said, she was quick to cases as well as employment cases. regard to her work, and Judge Wright say that her roots from the judicial While clerking for him, Judge Keith tries to replicate this with the law side are only a few blocks away in impressed upon Judge Wright and her clerks that she works with now as a co-clerks that the law affects everyday judge. She noted, “The role of a mentor Continued on page 4. 3 The Humility and Compassion of a Foot Soldier: Judge Michael J. Davis Receives Sarah T. Hughes Civil Rights Award By Sahr A.M. Brima Named after the renowned federal district judge from Dallas, Texas, the national FBA’s Sarah T. Hughes Civil Rights Award was created to honor an attorney or judge whose exemplary works of service and leadership promote the advancement of civil and human rights amongst us. Judge Hughes was a pio- neer in the fight for civil rights, due process, equal protection, and the rights of women. Former recipi- ents of the award include the Honorable Damon J. Keith, Circuit Judge at the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. This year, the national FBA chose to recognize Judge Michael J. Davis of the United States District Court for the District of Min- nesota. While this award comes as no surprise to those who are aware of Judge Davis’s prolific track record, the Judge does not consider himself worthy of it. Referring to Judge Damon Keith and other past Sarah T. Hughes Award Recipient Judge Michael J. Davis recipients, Judge Davis states, “You’ve got the titans of this nation’s civil rights movement receiving this award. I’m astounded that I’m even mentioned.” What is truly astounding, however, is that Judge Davis became the first African-American district judge for the Dis- trict of Minnesota in 1994, and in 2008 became the first such chief judge.

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