Court Opinion

ID: 9736515
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 18:58:37.636693+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:27:07.170645
License: Public Domain

PAGE, Justice
(concurring).
While I agree with the court’s analysis and conclusion, I write separately to say that it is not clear to me that the petition before us sets out a viable equal protection claim. As part of determining whether a party is being denied equal protection of the laws, it is necessary to determine whether the class at issue involves similarly situated people. Only when the class involves similarly situated people are the laws required to treat those people the same. See Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 216, 102 S.Ct. 2382, 72 L.Ed.2d 786 (1982) (“The Equal Protection Clause directs that ‘all persons similarly circumstanced shall be treated alike.’ But so too, ‘[t]he Constitution does not require things which are different in fact or opinion to be treated in law as though they were the same.’ ”) (citations omitted). Obviously, if the people are not similarly situated there is no equal protection claim in the first instance and there is no need to engage in a discussion about the appropriate standard of review and how that standard is to be applied.
Petitioner asserts that when an incumbent court of appeals judge and a private citizen are seeking election to the same court of appeals congressional district seat they are, for purposes of equal protection, similarly situated. That assertion is not supported by the reality of their different circumstances. First, challengers and incumbents in judicial elections have very different obligations based upon the incumbent’s duties under the Minnesota Code of Judicial Conduct. This court has stated that “[t]he role of a judge in the administration of justice requires adherence to the highest standard of personal and official conduct. * * * A judge, therefore, has the responsibility of conforming to a higher standard of conduct than is expected of lawyers or other persons in society.” Complaint Concerning Winton, 350 N.W.2d 337, 340 (Minn.1984). Thus, an incumbent judge has duties not borne by her challenger and must remain faithful to that duty throughout her tenure on the court, including during the electoral process. Second, an incumbent judge seeking reelection to a designated congressional district seat has assumed the obligations that accompany service on the court of appeals. For example, the incumbent judge must relinquish all ties to her former law practice, relocate herself and her family to the Twin Cities area, and forgo the opportunity to run for a different elected office unless she resigns her court of appeals seat.1 A challenger seeking the same seat, however, is not required to relocate and continues to enjoy the opportunity to engage in the practice of law and may seek any elected office he so chooses without having to give up his livelihood.
Thus, the circumstances of incumbents and challengers are different in fact and the Constitution does not require that they be treated in law as though they were the same. Plyler, 457 U.S. at 216, 102 S.Ct. 2382 (“The Equal Protection Clause di*134rects that ‘all persons similarly circumstanced shall be treated alike.’ ”).

. Petitioner's argument raises the following question: Why would a successful attorney accept an appointment to a court of appeals congressional district seat knowing that she would have to give up her law practice, either relocate herself and her family to the Twin Cities metro area to fulfill her court obligations or commute long distances for which she would not be reimbursed after two years, see Minn.Stat. § 484.54 (2002), and, if she relocated or the congressional district boundaries changed, be ineligible for election to the seat? The likely answer is that she would not accept the appointment.