Jerry VandeWalle: A Career Defined by Service
A new biography examines the life and long career of North Dakota’s longest-serving Supreme Court chief justice, tracing how decades of public service shaped both the man and the court he led.
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In this episode of The Backstory, NDNC reporter Michael Standaert discusses his reporting on former Chief Justice Jerry VandeWalle, whose career in state government spanned more than six decades, including 45 years on the North Dakota Supreme Court. Standaert explains what he learned from reading the biography Call Me Jerry and from speaking with VandeWalle and others about his upbringing in Noonan, his approach to leadership, and his reputation for humility and accessibility.
The reporting also explores VandeWalle’s views on judicial independence and nonpartisanship, and how those principles guided his work on the court during periods of political and legal change in North Dakota.
“He’s kind of married to service, and married to service to the state. It just comes out in the book quite a bit.” -Michael Standaert, NDNC reporter
The story examines how VandeWalle’s career intersected with the evolution of North Dakota’s Supreme Court over several decades.
