New Supreme Court Justice Wilhelmina Wright is scheduled to take her spot Tuesday on the seven-member panel at a ceremony at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. Wright is the 90th associate justice in state history and the first black woman.

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 Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Friday that school districts need to be more accountable in reporting campaign spending. The ruling stems from a 2010 complaint filed against the St. Louis County School District, which alleged district leaders and school board members violated state campaign laws by using public funds to promote the passage of a school building bond referendum -- and not reporting it to the state as campaign spending.

Meyer will step down in August after "10 years as a member of the Supreme Court and 20 years as a trial lawyer." Her vacancy will be Gov. Mark Dayton's first chance to appoint someone to the Supreme Court.

The justices ruled that public officials acted improperly by discouraging expert witnesses from testifying on the mother's behalf. Nicole Beecroft had been serving a life sentence for stabbing her newborn to death in 2007. She'll get a new trial.

In 2010, a lower court awarded Williams $1 million for a wrongful termination suit. He sued the University of Minnesota, alleging he was misled about an assistant coaching job with the Gophers basketball team in 2007.