Public Notice Detail
Judge Davies Retires from Minnesota Court of Appeals
Posted: Wednesday, June 7, 2000
Davies said he has enjoyed his service on the court immensely, but felt “This is a good time for me to step aside because, besides wanting freedom for more travel, I plan to do some public-interest lobbying in the 2001 legislative session. I cannot manage that with the responsibilities of our busy court.”
“As with most retirements, there is regret, for we have a wonderful group of judges on our court--with congeniality second to none,” he added.
Davies was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Governor Perpich on July 1, 1990. Among Judge Davies’ significant opinions are In Re Guardianship of Kowalski, 478 N.W.2d 790 (Minn. App. 1991) (ending a seven-year struggle between the parents and partner of a brain-injured lesbian); Lundman v. McKown, 530 N.W.2d 807 (Minn. App. 1995) (relating to the civil liability of Christian Scientist parents and caregivers for the death of a diabetic child); and State v. Carter, 545 N.W.2d 695 (Minn. App. 1996) (a search case that was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court).
Before his service on the Court of Appeals, Davies was, for 25 years, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law and for 24 years a Minnesota state senator.
His proudest achievement in the legislature was passage of the no-fault automobile insurance law, which reformed Minnesota’s system of compensating automobile accident victims. In addition to no-fault, Davies, as a senator, was chief author of more than 54 major laws, and dozens more routine matters. In one biennial session, he was the sponsor of 46 separate pieces of legislation that became law.
Davies was, for ten years, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and in that role he oversaw adoption of legislation dealing with protection of privacy, sentencing guidelines, uniform probate code, mental commitment, and judicial reorganization.
Since 1966, Davies has also been a member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, playing a prominent role as a member of its Executive and Scope and Program committees. He has served on drafting committees on the subjects of franchising, commercial credit, determination of death, defamation, determination of parentage, and no-fault automobile insurance. Now a life member of the Uniform Laws Conference, Davies will continue his public-service commitment by participating in its work and lobbying for passage of uniform acts. He is also a member of the American Law Institute.
Davies graduated magna cum laude in journalism from the University of Minnesota and was on its national championship quiz bowl team in 1953. While a student at the university law school he was invited to join the law review staff, but opted instead for a long-shot race in 1958 against an entrenched incumbent Minnesota state senator. Davies won and was the youngest senator for the next eight years.
Davies was a Senate member of the 1971 Minnesota Constitutional Study Commission. As a member of a three-person subcommittee of that commission, he drafted a “Form and Structure” amendment to the constitution, which was ratified by the voters in 1974. As a consequence, he claims to have held a constitutional convention at his kitchen table.
Judge Davies’ fondest hope for the future is to be included in Bartlett’s Famous Quotations for a widely quoted phrase he coined in the 1960s: “The world is run by those who show up."