Natalie E. Hudson (born January 13, 1957) is an American attorney serving since 2023 as the chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.[1] From 2015 to 2023 she served as associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.[2]
She practiced housing law and worked as a staff attorney with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services from 1982 to 1986. She then took a position with the firm Robins, Zelle, Larson & Kaplan as an associate attorney in general civil litigation and employment law. From 1989 to 1992 Hudson was the assistant dean of student affairs at Hamline University School of Law. She then served as a city attorney for St. Paul from 1992 to 1994. Afterwards she served as Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, working primarily in the criminal appeals and health licensing divisions.[4][5]
On August 18, 2015, Governor Mark Dayton nominated her to the Supreme Court to replace Alan Page effective September 1; Page had reached the court's mandatory retirement age of 70 earlier in August. She is the second African American woman named to the Court, after Wilhelmina Wright.[2][5]
On August 23, 2023, Governor Tim Walz announced he would elevate Hudson to Chief Justice, per the announced resignation of Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea effective October 1 of that year. Hudson is the first woman of color and the first African-American to serve as Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.[6]