John E. Simonett

Infobox Senator | name=The Honorable John E. Simonett
nationality=American


jr/sr and state=Associate Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
term= 1980–1994
preceded=Walter Rogosheske
succeeded=Paul H. Anderson
date of birth= Birth date and age|1924|07|12|mf=y
place of birth= Mankato, Minnesota
dead=alive
date of death=
place of death=

John E. Simonett is a former associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court and a retired attorney. He is famous for his wit, thoughtfulness, and humor, characteristics reflected both in his judicial opinions, and in his writings and speeches.Jessica Thompson, [http://www.lawandpolitics.com/minnesota/Minnesotas-Legal-Hall-of-Fame/9fe5f62c-aded-102a-ab50-000e0c6dcf76.html "Minnesota's Legal Hall of Fame: The 100 most influential attorneys in state history,"] Minnesota Law and Politics (2007).] . In 2007, he was named one of the 100 most influential attorneys in Minnesota history. Of his six daughters and sons, [He is the father of Anne, John, Mary, Paul, Martha, and Luke Simonett.] two became judges, one serving as the fourth Chief Judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals from 1994 to 1995. [ [http://www.lawlibrary.state.mn.us/coajudgebio.html#simonett Official Biography of Anne V. Simonett, Biographies of the Judges of the Minnesota Court of Appeals.] ]

Background

John Simonett was born to Edward and Veronica Simonett on July 12, 1924 in Mankato, Minnesota, and was raised in nearby Le Center. He attended St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, but his studies were interrupted by World War II. After three years in the U.S. Army, he was ordered to the Philippines as an infantry lieutenant just as the war was coming to a close.Anderson, Marvin, and Larson, Susan (eds. 1998), The Judicial Career of John E. Simonett, p. ii St. Paul: Minnesota State Law Library.] Upon his discharge, he returned to St. John's, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1948. He entered the University of Minnesota Law School, where he graduated in 1951 after serving as the president of the Minnesota Law Review. He then entered private practice in Little Falls, Minnesota, with Gordon Rosenmeier. Rosenmeier was already a well-respected state senator and attorney, and Simonett soon became a well-respected trial attorney. He also became known as a colorful commentator on the law and culture, through articles such as "The Common Law of Morrison County" in 1963, which recited myths about legal rights and duties in small-town America. ["The Common Law of Morrison County"," 49 A.B.A. Journal 263 (Mar. 1963).] However, he also took on more serious and complex topics, writing an influential law review article in 1977 on the use of partial settlements of multi-defendant civil suits. [John E. Simonett, "Release of Joint Tortfeasors: Use of the Pierringer Release in Minnesota," 3 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 1 (1977).] In 1980, when Little Falls native Walter Rogosheske retired from the Minnesota Supreme Court, Governor Al Quie appointed Simonett to fill the vacancy. [Bob Wright, "We didn't say goodbye to John Simonett," Morrison County Record, p. 1, 1980-09-15.]

Associate Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court (1980-1994)

In over thirteen years on the bench, Justice Simonett wrote 423 opinions, 355 of them on behalf of a majority of the justices. [ [http://www.lawlibrary.state.mn.us/judges/simonettopinions.pdf Summary of Opinions of John Simonett] .] "Simonett, a moderate, wrote decisions upholding the state's fetal homicide law, overturning lower welfare benefits for new state residents and, in one controversial case, allowing a lawyer to eliminate a potential juror based on religion." Looking back on Simonett's opinions at the time of his retirement, Robert Stein (then the dean of the University of Minnesota Law School) commented that his decisions cannot readily be classified as conservative. "Rather, they seem to be very thoughtful, well-researched expositions of how prior law would apply to the case before him."Donna Halvorson, "John Simonett's Legacy is one of High Wit and Deep Wisdom," Star Tribune, 1994-06-06 at B1.] In "Cohen v. Cowles Media Co.", [ [http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/90-634.ZS.html "Cohen v. Cowles Media Co".,] 501 U.S. 663 (1991).] his opinion for the Court reversing (on First Amendment grounds) a jury verdict against a media company whose editorial staff broke a promise of confidentiality [ [http://www.uvm.edu/~jashman/cdae127/cohen_v_cowlesmedia.html "Cohen v. Cowles Media Co".] , 457 N.W.2d 199 (Minn. 1990).] was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

His legacy

In Minnesota, judges are required to retire from active service before their 70th birthday. [ [https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/getpub.php?pubtype=STAT_CHAP_SEC&year=2007&section=490.125 Minn.Stat. 490.125] .] Upon Simonett's mandatory retirement from the Supreme Court in 1994, Governor Arne Carlson appointed Paul H. Anderson, then Chief Judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, to take Simonett's place, and chose one of Simonett's daughters, Hennepin County District Court Judge Anne V. Simonett, to succeed Anderson as Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. Anne Simonett's service was cut short by a brain tumor that proved fatal the following year. [Star Tribune, 1995-05-07, at A1.] Another of his daughters, Martha Simonett, was later appointed to fill a District Court vacancy in Dakota County, where she continues to serve.

The chapter of the American Inns of Court in the area of Central Minnesota in which he practiced law for 29 years has been named the John Simonett American Inn of Court. [Linda Olup, [http://hennepin.timberlakepublishing.com/article.asp?article=787&paper=1&cat=147 "The American Inns of Court: Active in Minnesota,"] The Hennepin Lawyer," 2004-01-22.]

After retiring from the bench, John Simonett practiced law in Minneapolis at the law offices of greene espel until 2007, and taught appellate practice at the University of Minnesota. He continues to reside in St. Paul with his wife Doris, the former Doris Margaret Bogut.

Major articles

* "The Common Law of Morrison County"," 49 A.B.A. Journal 263 (Mar. 1963)
* "The Trial as One of the Performing Arts"," 52 A.B.A. Journal 1145 (Dec. 1966)
* "The Footnote as Excursion and Diversion"," 55 A.B.A. Journal 1141 (Dec. 1969)
* "Release of Joint Tortfeasors: Use of the Pierringer Release in Minnesota"," 3 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 1 (1977)
* "Meditation on the Limits of Law"," 2 J. of Law & Religion 1 (1984)
* "Forensic Rhetoric and Irving Younger"," 73 Minn. L. Rev. 865 (1989)
* "The Growing Irrelevance of Relevance"," 49 Bench & Bar of Minnesota 11 (Aug. 1992)
* "Rules for Practice in General"," 51 Bench & Bar of Minnesota 30 (Jul. 1994)
* "The Use of 'Result-Oriented' to Characterize Appellate Decisions"," 10 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 187 (1984)
* "Essay: A Corporation Soul"," 54 Bench & Bar of Minnesota 34 (Sept. 1997)

References