Justice Anne McKeig recently spent a couple of days visiting the courts in Bemidji and Walker as part of the Minnesota Supreme Court judicial "ride along" program. Justice McKeig grew up on the Leech Lake Reservation in the Sugar Point and Federal Dam areas. She graduated from Northland High School in Remer before attending the College of St. Catherine and the Hamline School of Law.
As the first member of the Minnesota Supreme Court of Native descent, Justice McKeig's ride along included a December 26 visit to Cass County Juvenile Court. After observing the proceedings for about an hour Justice McKeig began participating in the hearings with a "hands on" approach that led to several handshakes and "deals" that she struck with juvenile participants having to "invest in themselves" with Justice McKeig following up on their progress through contacts with probation officers.
After the day in court, Justice McKeig sat down and talked with Larry Kimball and David Harrington about some of the things she took away from her visit.
