Bryan, Segal join Court of Appeals.

Byline: Kevin Featherly

Minnesota's new Court of Appeals judges got their jobs, at least in part, by passing their examstheir English exams, that is.

During that Jan. 16 investiture ceremony in St. Paul where Jeffrey M. Bryan and Susan L. Segal were sworn in as the court's newest judges, Gov. Tim Walz revealed that he required all five finalists to submit writing samples.

They wrote about their favorite U.S. Supreme Court cases and Walzthe former high school English teacherreviewed each one without knowing who wrote it. "It was an incredible exercise for me to understand the thinking that goes into these potential judges," Walz said.

Segal's initial reaction wasn't quite that the assignment was "an incredible exercise."

"Yes, we were required to write an essay," said the former Minneapolis city attorney, shortly after being sworn in. "And yes, when I found that out, it did involve some profanity."

But according to Walz, both candidates wrote movingly, Bryan on the Brown v. Board of Education civil rights case; Segal on the Gideon v. Wainwright 6th Amendment right-to-counsel case. Walz said he was particularly impressed that Bryan managed to work in a quote from the TV show "Supernatural."

"I said, 'This is good!'" Walz said as judicial and political dignitaries in the audience at St. Paul's Landmark Center broke out in laughter. "I remember going back to my staff and saying, 'This fits, how he wound it in there!'"

Walz said the essays demonstrated that his picks had the clarity of thought and communications ability that he sees as essential judicial skills. "I can tell you that Minnesota is in good hands with these two Court of Appeals justices," he said.

New judges

The Jan. 16 investiture ceremony was attended by a who's who of Minnesota legal and political figures.

Ex-Associate Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson and metro-area county attorneys Mike Freeman and James Backstrom attended, as did state Attorney General Keith Ellison and former Twin Cities mayors R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman. Sitting members of the federal and state District Court benches also attended. That was just the audience.

Members of the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals were onstage with the new judges, as was Walz.

Bryan was serving as a 2nd Judicial District Court trial judge at the time of his appointment. The former assistant U.S. Attorney was sworn in by U.S. District Court Senior Judge Paul A. Magnuson.

Bryan is the son of an English high school...

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