ACS Minneapolis-St. Paul: Preserving the Integrity of Minnesota’s Judiciary: The Pros and Cons of Restructuring the Judicial Selection System

Partisanship and special interest spending on state judicial elections has been on the rise in recent memory, with no greater example than our neighbors in Wisconsin. Minnesota’s courts remain a model of independence and fairness, but should we look to buttress our judiciary from its present position of strength? Should Minnesota revamp its judicial selection system from the current appoint-then-elect model to a retention system or a pure selection system? Capable and knowledge experts Jamie Long, Minnesota House Majority Leader, and Rep. Emma Greenman join the American Constitution Society’s Minneapolis-St. Paul lawyer chapter for a panel discussion unpacking and discussing the pros and cons of restructuring the system for selecting judges in the state.

Join us for a captivating discussion about the future of our judiciary and the efforts to preserve the integrity of one of the bedrocks of our democracy.

Featuring:

House Majority Leader Jamie Long:

Majority Leader Long has represented District 61B since 2019 and has served as the Majority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2023. Majority Leader Long previously worked in energy, environment, and transportation policy, helping to turn innovative ideas into law in the U.S. Congress, including serving as legislative director and deputy chief of staff for then-Congressman Keith Ellison. In law school, Jamie spent time with a Public Defender’s office and aided legal efforts at the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Climate Center. He received his J.D. from George Washington Law School and his B.A. from Carleton College.

Representative Emma Greenman:

Rep. Greenman has represented District 63B since 2021. Rep. Greenman is vice chair of the Elections Finance and Policy Committee and sits on the Education Finance, Labor and Industry Finance and Policy, and Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committees. Rep. Greenman previously served as a political trainer for Wellstone Action, an attorney for Maslon LLP, and the director of voting rights and democracy at the Center for Popular Democracy.

She received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley; M.P.A. in public administration from Harvard University; and B.A. in political science from The George Washington University.