thumb|200px|right|[[John Adams Courthouse, home to the SJC]]

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Americas, with a recognized history dating to the establishment of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature in 1692 under the charter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

Although it was historically composed of four associate justices and one chief justice, the court is currently composed of six associate justices and one chief justice. Like the State of Maine, Massachusetts prefixes the name of its highest court with 'Judicial' to avoid confusion with the Massachusetts General Court, the state's legislature.

The Legislature created the Massachusetts Court of Appeals in 1972, building the modern formation of the Massachusetts state court system. The three-tiered judiciary structure is composed of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals, and trial courts. Most non-discretionary appeals that are taken up by the Supreme Judicial Court are convictions of capital crimes, such as first-degree murder. The court is known to interpret the Massachusetts Constitution to offer more protection of civil liberties when compared with other courts across the country.

The court does not have final jurisdiction for federal cases due to the Supremacy Clause, meaning they must follow the United States Supreme Court rulings when state laws conflict with federal laws or the U.S. Constitution.

Location and citation

The SJC sits at the John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Boston, Massachusetts 02108, which also houses the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Social Law Library. The legal citation for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is "Mass."

Unconventional judicial powers

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court also has an unusual role of providing advisory opinions that support the act of judicial review, although this power is often regarded as weak by lawmakers. Judicial review is a check on the other branches of state government by the judicial branch to determine the constitutionality of executive or legislative acts that was established by Marbury v. Madison. The Court is able to declare acts of the other two branches as unconstitutional upon the request of the governor or legislature, allowing the court to protect its authority through this quasi-legislative power. This ability makes the court more involved in the legislative process and influences the relationships between the Court and the other two branches of state government.

Landmark cases

  • Rex v. Preston (1770) – Captain Thomas Preston, the Officer of the Day during the Boston Massacre, was acquitted when the jury was unable to determine whether he had ordered the troops to fire. The defense counsel in the case was a young attorney named John Adams, later the second President of the United States.
  • Rex v. Wemms, et al. (1770) – Six soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre were found not guilty, and two morethe only two proven to have firedwere found guilty of manslaughter.
  • Commonwealth v. Nathaniel Jennison (1783) – The Court declared slavery unconstitutional in the state of Massachusetts by allowing slaves to sue their masters for freedom. Boston lawyer, and member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1779, John Lowell, upon the adoption of Article I for inclusion in the Massachusetts Constitution, exclaimed: "I will render my services as a lawyer gratis to any slave suing for his freedom if it is withheld from him ..." With this case, he fulfilled his promise. Slavery in Massachusetts was denied legal standing.
  • Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842) – The Court established that trade unions were not necessarily criminal or conspiring organizations if they did not advocate violence or illegal activities in their attempts to gain recognition through striking. This legalized the existence of non-socialist or non-violent trade organizations, though trade unions would continue to be harassed legally through anti-trust suits and injunctions.
  • Roberts v. Boston (1850) – The Court established the "separate but equal" doctrine that would later be used in Plessy v. Ferguson by maintaining that the law gave school boards complete authority in assigning students to schools and that they could do so along racial lines if they deemed it appropriate.
  • Commonwealth v. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (1921) – The Court found two immigrants guilty of robbery and murder, in a trial that was later believed to be unfair. Global protests emerged, objecting to the ruling by the Court and promoting labor internationalism and justice for the working and immigrant classes.
  • District Attorney for the Suffolk District v. Watson (1980) – The District Attorney for the Suffolk District sought a ruling regarding the constitutionality of Massachusetts’ death penalty statute. The court ruled that the statute did, in fact, violate the Massachusetts Constitution, because it allowed for arbitrary and discriminatory use of the death penalty. As such, the statue could be regarded as cruel and unusual punishment and was ultimately struck down. The Court specifically was concerned about the unjust applications of this statue on marginalized communities. This case demonstrated the power of State Supreme Courts to utilize constitutional law to strike down specific capital punishments, contributing to nationwide efforts to revise death penalty laws.
  • Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (2003) – The Court ruled 4–3 that the denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples violated the Massachusetts Constitution. The decision was stayed for 180 days to allow the legislature time to amend the law to comply with the decision. In December 2003, the state Senate asked the SJC whether "civil unions" would comply with their ruling. The SJC replied that civil unions were insufficient, and civil marriage was required. The legislature made no further action, and the stay expired on May 17, 2004. The state began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples the same day. This decision was one of the first in the world to find that same-sex couples have a right to marry. Nineteen state courts referenced the Massachusetts SJC opinion when considering same-sex marriage regulations. The court's ruling allowed for more visibility of same-sex couples within the court system and significant developments in marriage laws.

Composition

The Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts with the consent of the Governor's Council.

The Justices hold office until the mandatory retirement age of seventy, like all other Massachusetts judges since 1972.

Current composition

The current Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is Kimberly S. Budd, the first Black woman to serve as a chief justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. She succeeded Chief Justice Ralph Grants. In her nomination speech, she urged Governor Charles Baker Jr. to continue diversifying the court to better represent Massachusetts communities.

{|class="wikitable sortable"

|-

!Name

!Born

!Start

!Mandatory retirement

!Appointer

!Law school

|-

|, Chief Justice

|

|

|2036

| |Charlie Baker (R)

|Harvard

|-

|

|

|

|2034

| |Charlie Baker (R)

|Suffolk

|-

|

|

|

|2029

| |Charlie Baker (R)

|Chicago

|-

|

|

|

|2039

| |Charlie Baker (R)

|Stanford

|-

|

|

|

|2040

| |Charlie Baker (R)

|Suffolk

|-

|

|

|

|2050

| |Maura Healey (D)

|Yale

|-

|

|

|

|2030

| |Maura Healey (D)

|Columbia

|}

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Vacancies and pending nominations

{|class=wikitable

!Vacator

!Reason

!Vacancy Date

!Nominee

!Nomination Date

|-

|

|

|

|Pending//

|TBD //

|} -->

Notable members

  • William Cushing, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1790–1810)
  • Charles Devens, United States Attorney General (1877–81)
  • Charles Fried, United States Solicitor General (1985–89)
  • Horace Gray, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1882–1902)
  • Ebenezer R. Hoar, United States Attorney General (1869–70)
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1902–32)
  • Lemuel Shaw, Chief Justice, father-in-law of Herman Melville
  • Theophilus Parsons, Federalist leader, Constitutional scholar
  • Roderick Ireland, first Black Justice and first Black Chief Justice
  • Geraldine Hines, first African American woman Justice
  • Fernande “Nan” Duffy, first Asian-American woman Justice
  • Barabara Lenk, first LGBTQ+ Justice
  • Dalia Argaez Wendlandt, first Hispanic Justice

Notes

References

Works cited

  • Davis, William (1900). <!-- pg=1 --> History of the Judiciary of Massachusetts
  • <!-- pg=68 --> Massachusetts Civil List for the Colonial and Provincial Periods
  • Reno, Conrad. Memoirs of the Judiciary and the Bar of New England, Volume 1
  • Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
  • List of Chief Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court (since 1801)
  • Office of the Reporter of Decisions of the SJC
  • . (Various documents).
  • Gay-Marriage Decision: Just the Beginning of the Debate
  • Memoirs v. Massachusetts
  • Simpson's Contemporary Quotations
  • Supreme Judicial Court Oral Arguments Archive