Christopher Dietzen is an Associate Justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court

Minnesota Supreme Court

The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota and consists of seven members. The court was first assembled as a three-judge panel in 1849 when Minnesota was still a territory. The first members were lawyers from outside of the region who were appointed by...

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Dietzen became a member of the Minnesota Supreme Court in January 2008. He was appointed to the court by Governor Tim Pawlenty

Tim Pawlenty

Timothy James "Tim" Pawlenty , also known affectionately among supporters as T-Paw, is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Minnesota . He was a Republican candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election from May to August 2011...

 after the resignation of Justice Sam Hanson

Sam Hanson

Sam Hanson is an American lawyer and judge from the state of Minnesota. He served on the Minnesota Court of Appeals from 2000 to 2002 and as an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court from 2002 to 2008...

. Prior to this, he served as a judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals

Minnesota Court of Appeals

The Minnesota Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Minnesota. It began operating on November 1, 1983. It is housed in the Minnesota Judicial Center in St...

 from 2004-2008. He was likewise appointed to that judgeship by Governor Pawlenty, and then elected to it in 2006.

Before becoming a member of the judiciary, Dietzen was an attorney with the law firm of Larkin, Hoffman, Daly & Lindren, Ltd., of Bloomington, Minnesota

Bloomington, Minnesota

Bloomington is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota in Hennepin County. Located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, Bloomington lies at the heart of the southern...

, from 1978–2004, and with the firm of Richter, Wimberly, & Ericson in Spokane, Washington

Spokane, Washington

Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...

 from 1973-1977. He also served as an attorney for Governor Pawlenty during his 2002 gubernatorial campaign.

Dietzen attended Gonzaga University

Gonzaga University

Gonzaga University is a private Roman Catholic university located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Founded in 1887 by the Society of Jesus, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and is named after the young Jesuit saint, Aloysius Gonzaga...

 as an undergraduate and law student. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1969, and his Juris Doctorate in 1973.

In 2001 and 2004, Dietzen contributed $250 to the re-election campaign of Norm Coleman

Norm Coleman

Norman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...

, with his last donation occurring almost a year before he became a judge.