MN Supreme Court Justice visits

Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Sarah Hennesy visited campus on Sept. 17 for a Constitution Day event focused on civic courage, the role of the judiciary and the responsibility of citizens to participate in democratic practices.

Hennesy, who was appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Gov. Tim Walz in 2024 after serving 12 years as a district court judge, spoke about her path to the bench and the challenges judges face when making decisions that can carry significant political and public consequences. The conversation, hosted by new political science and public law professor Jay Steinmetz, focused on what it means to exercise civic courage in the 21st century and politically challenging times.  

For Hennesy, civic courage in the judiciary means following constitutional principles and the rule of law even when doing so may be unpopular.

“Civic courage, at face, is a willingness to speak out or act on democratic principles in the face of some sort of professional and personal risk,” Hennesy said. She described civic courage as operating at both a broad institutional level and through everyday interactions in a courtroom.

At the institutional level, Hennesy pointed to judicial independence as an essential part of the American system of government. Judges, she said, must be willing to make decisions based on the law rather than public opinion or pressure from political leaders. At the more personal level, she said civic courage can be as simple as slowing down and treating people with dignity.

Hennesy described the pressure judges face to move quickly through cases, particularly as Minnesota courts deal with significant caseloads. She said judges must sometimes resist that pressure to make sure people appearing before them understand what is happening and feel that they’ve been treated fairly.

“When you have people in your courtroom who are there on usually one of the worst days of their lives, what you have to do in those moments is have the courage and the presence of mind to slow down and remember that the people in front of you matter,” Hennesy said.

Hennesy also discussed her own unconventional path to the Supreme Court. She initially studied religion as an undergraduate student and considered becoming a minister before a professor encouraged her to attend law school. After earning her law degree, she worked as a public defender and later as an attorney with St. Cloud Area Legal Services before becoming a judge.

Her career path, she said, reinforced the idea that there is no single route into public service.

The Constitution Day discussion also highlighted varied representation within government. Hennesy reflected on entering the Minnesota judiciary as a young woman and seeing firsthand how the demographics of the institution have changed throughout her career. She emphasized that having women and people of color represented in positions of public authority can affect how institutions operate and how members of the public perceive their relationship with government.

“Having people of color and women at the table makes a difference in how business is conducted and in the voices that get heard in places of power,” Hennesy said.

The conversation turned toward the Constitution itself and its role in contemporary American democracy.

Steinmetz highlighted the Constitution as a document that has changed throughout American history, mentioning amendments that abolished slavery and gave women the right to vote. He specifically noted the Ninth Amendment, which recognizes that the rights protected by the Constitution are not necessarily limited to those specified in the document itself. Steinmetz framed the Constitution as a continuing project shaped by successive generations.

This connected to the event’s broader outlook on civic participation. Both speakers emphasized the importance of civic education and understanding how public institutions function.

Hennesy said that increasing transparency can help strengthen public understanding of the judiciary. The Minnesota Supreme Court currently livestreams its oral arguments and maintains an online archive of previous arguments, allowing members of the public to observe the court’s work.

For students, the opportunity to hear directly from a sitting Supreme Court justice provided a perspective on the judiciary that is beyond its role as an institution.

Adrian Alvarez, a first-year Johnnie majoring in political science and business finance, said the event gave him a better understanding of the work judges do and the pressures they face.

“It was a lot of new topics that I learned about, especially diving into the Supreme Court side and the different types of work that they have, and the stress they deal with,” Alvarez said. “Just hearing the stories of the professors and learning how they came to where they are at is also touching. So it was a lot of great stuff.”

Hennesy encouraged students to take advantage of opportunities to learn about the judiciary firsthand, including visiting the Minnesota Supreme Court.

“I am a firm believer that the more you know about the government, the more you feel like the government is there for you,” Hennesy said.

For students attending the Constitution Day event, the discussion offered a perspective on civic engagement that extended beyond voting or political participation. Civic responsibility, the speakers suggested, can also involve learning how institutions work, holding them accountable and treating other members of a community with dignity.

“Your interpretations of the Constitution matter a great deal,” Steinmetz told students during the discussion.

The Minnesota Supreme Court holds oral arguments during the first two weeks of each month from September through June, with arguments open to members of the public and livestreamed online.