South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Steven Zinter has died from complications related to surgery.
Zinter’s death was announced Tuesday morning.
State Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson says the state lost a giant in the South Dakota legal community.
“He had probably the best legal mind I’ve ever seen,” Gilbertson says. “It was incredible. He would go right to the issue and come up with a correct solution. Very logical, brilliant legal mind, excellent writer, very clear, there was no doubt that if he wrote the opinion what he intended it to say. A very gifted person, incredible mind and incredible memory. He was very blessed in that area.”
Governor Dennis Daugaard is ordering flags fly at half-staff across South Dakota immediately, until Zinter’s internment.
Zinter was the 45th justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court. He was appointed to the state’s high court by Governor Bill Janklow in 2002. Prior to that, Zinter served as a circuit judge in the Sixth Judicial Circuit for 15 years.