Judge Minge has served on the court since 2002 and plans to step down at the end of March. Governor Dayton will choose a successor from the second Congressional district, which Minge represented in Washington for eight years before he was named to the bench.

Gov. Mark Dayton on Monday appointed Minnesota Court of Appeals Judge Wilhelmina Wright to the state Supreme Court. The 48-year-old St. Paul resident will be the first black woman to serve on the state's highest court.

The state's top court says judge Patricia Karasov was not living within her judicial district and failed to cooperate with an investigation into the matter. State law requires district judges to live within the district they serve.

Gov. Mark Dayton is considering a former U.S. attorney and three judges for his first appointment to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Dayton's office said Friday that he will interview Judges Tanya Bransford, Margaret Chutich and Wilhelmina Wright and former U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug after they were recommended by a judicial selection panel.

The Associated Press reports the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out 19 of the 20 contempt-of-court citations against one of the Rochester women convicted of funneling money to a terrorist group in Somalia. The three-judge panel sent the case back to Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis for further proceedings.