Wilhelmina Wright
*Wilhelmina Wright was born on this date in 1964. She is a Black lawyer, professor, and Judge.
Wilhelmina Marie Wright was born in Norfolk, Virginia. She studied literature at Yale University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree and graduating cum laude in 1986. Wright received her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1989. Wright served on the Sixth Circuit United States Court of Appeals as a law clerk. In 1991, she began working at the Hogan & Hartson, LLP law firm in Washington, D.C.. Wright took up cases involving U.S. public school opportunities before joining the United States Attorney's Office in Minnesota in 1995. In this position, Wright was an Assistant Attorney for the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, where she took up cases involving illegal economic activity and violence.
Between 2000 and 2002, Wright was involved with the Minnesota State Bar Association Task Force on the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the Minnesota Judicial Council, and the Minnesota Courts Public Trust and Confidence Work Group as a Ramsey County District Court judge.
Teaching
Wright has also taught others about the law. In Geneva, Switzerland, she worked for International Bridges to Justice, training on the rule of law, and in Belgium and other areas in Switzerland, she taught judicial selection. Closer to home, she was a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and taught judicial accountability in other areas of the United States.
State judicial service
Governor Jesse Ventura appointed her to the Ramsey County District Court in 2000, and 2002, he appointed her to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, on which she served until September 2012. As part of this position, Wright was the Special Redistricting Panel Presiding Judge between June 2011 and August 2012. Governor Mark Dayton appointed Wright to the Minnesota Supreme Court on August 20, 2012. As the first Black woman to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court, Wright stated she had the opportunity to help the court "reflect the diversity of Minnesota." Her term began on September 27, 2012. Her term ended in 2016.
Federal judicial service
In February 2015, senators Klobuchar and Franken recommended Wright to be on the federal bench. On April 15, 2015, President Obama nominated Wright as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, stating he was "confident she will serve on the federal bench with distinction." She was appointed to the seat vacated by Judge Michael J. Davis, Minnesota's first Black federal judge, who took senior status effective August 1, 2015. The American Bar Association ranked Wright Unanimously Well Qualified for this federal position.
After a hearing on July 22, 2015, her nomination was reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 17, 2015, by voice vote. This made Wright the first Black woman appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. On January 19, 2016, the Senate voted 58–36 in favor of confirmation. During the confirmation, Amy Klobuchar called the seat vacancy a "judicial emergency." She took the oath of office in federal court on February 18, 2016.
Wright continues to serve as U.S. District Judge. Awards Wright has earned numerous awards during her career, including the Myra Bradwell Award in 2006 from the Minnesota Women Lawyers, the Lena O. Smith Achievement Award from the Black Women Lawyers Network in 2004, the B. Warren Hart Award for Public Service from the Saint Paul Jaycees in 2001, and the Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans Award in 2000. In 1997, Justice Wright also earned the United States Department of Justice Special Achievement Award; in 2000, she earned the United States Department of Justice Director's Award for Public Service. In 2008, she joined the American Law Institute, and in 2019, she was given a Diversity and Inclusion Award from Minnesota Lawyer.
Personal life and involvement
She serves on the American Bar Association, the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Ramsey County Bar Association, the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers, and the National Association of Women Judges. Wright is also a valuable member of society, giving her time to places such as the William Mitchell College of Law Board of Trustees, the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs Advisory Council, the Minnesota Lawyer Advisory Board, the Minnesota Women Lawyers Advisory Committee, the Ramsey County Community Corrections Advisory Committee, the Federal Bar Association of Minnesota Board of Directors, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Board of Directors, the Girl Scout Council of Saint Croix Valley Board of Directors, the Mardag Foundation Board of Directors, the Hamline University Women in Leadership Advisory Council, the Saint Paul Public Schools Graduate Standards Advisory Committee, the Yale Alumni Schools Committee, the Saint Paul Academy and Summit School Board of Trustees, and the Yale University Council.
Wright is married to Dan Schmechel. They have one daughter.
To Become a Lawyer
To become a Political Scientist
To become a Judge
