Chief Judge Cleary To Retire From Minnesota Appeals Court

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edward Cleary has announced that he will retire next spring.

The 66-year-old Cleary was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Gov. Mark Dayton in 2011, and has served as chief judge since 2013.

Before joining the appeals court, Cleary was a district judge in Ramsey County and served on the canvassing board which determined the outcome of the 2008 U.S. Senate election between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.

As a public defender, Cleary successfully argued the case of R.A.V v. City of St. Paul before the U.S. Supreme Court. In that case, a bias-motivated ordinance was used to charge a teenager who allegedly burned a cross on a black family's lawn. The Supreme Court struck down that law in 1992, saying it violated the First Amendment.

Cleary plans to retire on April 30.

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