Rosalie Wahl | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court | |
| In office 1977–1994 | |
| Appointed by | Rudy Perpich |
| Preceded by | Harry H. MacLaughlin |
| Succeeded by | Edward C. Stringer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sara Rosalie Erwin August 27, 1924 Gordon, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | July 22, 2013 (aged 88) St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Spouse |
Roswell Wahl
(m. 1946; div. 1972) |
| Alma mater | University of Kansas William Mitchell College of Law |
Sara Rosalie Wahl (née Erwin; August 27, 1924 – July 22, 2013) was an American feminist, lawyer, public defender, clinical law professor, and judge. She was the first woman to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court where she served for seventeen years. Governor Rudy Perpich nominated Wahl to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1977 and Wahl won the election to the seat in a non-partisan election in 1978, defeating three male candidates. She chaired the state's Gender Bias Taskforce and Racial Bias Taskforce and led the American Bar Association's efforts to establish clinical legal education. She was a champion for the mentally ill and for displaced homemakers. She wrote 549 opinions including for the majority in holding that different penalties for crack and powder cocaine were unconstitutional in State v. Russell (477 N.W.2d 886 [Minn.1993]).