![Chief Judge Cleary to Retire from Minnesota Appeals Court](http://townsquare.media/site/67/files/2019/10/Judge-Edward-Cleary.jpg?w=630&h=420&zc=1&s=0&a=t&q=89&w=980&q=75)
Chief Judge Cleary to Retire from Minnesota Appeals Court
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ Minnesota Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edward Cleary has announced that he will retire next spring.
The 66-year-old Cleary was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Gov. Mark Dayton in 2011, and has served as chief judge since 2013.
Before joining the appeals court, Cleary was a district judge in Ramsey County and served on the canvassing board which determined the outcome of the 2008 U.S. Senate election between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.
As a public defender, Cleary successfully argued the case of R.A.V v. City of St. Paul before the U.S. Supreme Court. In that case, a bias-motivated ordinance was used to charge a teenager who allegedly burned a cross on a black family's lawn. The Supreme Court struck down that law in 1992, saying it violated the First Amendment.
Cleary plans to retire on April 30.
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