The Minnesota Supreme Court, established as a three-judge panel in 1849 during the territorial period and restructured upon statehood in 1858, functions as the highest judicial body in the state. Its workload shifted significantly in 1983 with the creation of an intermediate appeals court; it now reviews approximately 900 appeals annually, though certain critical cases like first-degree murder still go directly to it. The court comprises seven justices, elected to renewable six-year terms, with a mandatory retirement age of 70.

The court has marked significant milestones in diversity: Rosalie E. Wahl became the first woman justice in 1977, followed by former Minnesota Vikings player Alan Page, the first African American justice, in 1993. In 2016, Anne McKeig made history as the first Native American justice. The court has also made pivotal legal decisions, including Baker v. Nelson (1971), which upheld the denial of same-sex marriage (later overturned nationally), and Doe v. Gomez (1995), which affirmed the right to abortion funding under the Minnesota Constitution.