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Highest court in the U.S. state of Massachusetts
42°21′33″N
71°03′39″W
/
42.359297°N 71.060954°W
/
42.359297; -71.060954
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
,
[1]
[2]
the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the
Americas
,
[3]
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
.
[4]
[nb 1]
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.
History
[
edit
]
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court traces its history back to the high court of the British
Province of Massachusetts Bay
, which was chartered in 1692. Under the terms of that charter, Governor Sir
William Phips
established the Superior Court of Judicature as the province's local
court of last resort
(some of the court's decisions could be appealed to courts in England). When the
Massachusetts State Constitution
was established in 1780, legislative and judicial records show that the state's high court, although renamed, was a continuation of provincial high court. During and after the period of the
American Revolution
the court had members who were appointed by royal governors, the executive council of the
Massachusetts Provincial Congress
(which acted as the state's executive from 1775 to 1780), and governors elected under the state constitution.
Location and citation
[
edit
]
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
.
[6]
The legal citation for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is "Mass."
Landmark cases
[
edit
]
- 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
.
[7]
- Rex v. Wemms, et al.
(1770) ? Six soldiers involved in the
Boston Massacre
were found not guilty, and two more – the only two proven to have fired – were found guilty of manslaughter.
[8]
- 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 ..."
[9]
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.
- 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.
Composition
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
As of February 28, 2024
[update]
,
Justice
|
Born
|
Joined
|
Mandatory retirement
|
Appointed by
|
Law school
|
Kimberly S. Budd
,
Chief Justice
|
(
1966-10-23
)
October 23, 1966
(age 57)
|
August 24, 2016
[a]
|
2036
|
Charlie Baker
(R)
|
Harvard
|
Frank Gaziano
|
(
1963-09-08
)
September 8, 1963
(age 60)
|
August 18, 2016
|
2034
|
Charlie Baker
(R)
|
Suffolk
|
Scott L. Kafker
|
(
1959-04-24
)
April 24, 1959
(age 65)
|
August 21, 2017
|
2029
|
Charlie Baker
(R)
|
Chicago
|
Dalila Argaez Wendlandt
|
October 1969 (age 54)
|
December 4, 2020
|
2039
|
Charlie Baker
(R)
|
Stanford
|
Serge Georges Jr.
|
April 1970 (age 54)
|
December 16, 2020
|
2040
|
Charlie Baker
(R)
|
Suffolk
|
Bessie Dewar
|
(
1980-07-04
)
July 4, 1980
(age 43)
|
January 16, 2024
|
2050
|
Maura Healey
(D)
|
Yale
|
Gabrielle Wolohojian
|
(
1960-12-16
)
December 16, 1960
(age 63)
|
April 22, 2024
|
2030
|
Maura Healey
(D)
|
Columbia
|
- ^
Took office as Chief Justice on December 1, 2020 after being appointed by Governor Baker.
Notable members
[
edit
]
- 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
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Supreme Court - Courts - Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania"
. Retrieved
7 July
2017
.
- ^
The Virginia Supreme Court was founded as a appellate Court in 1623; it became a Supreme Court in 1779; The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania was founded as a Provincial Court in 1684; it became a Supreme Court in 1722;the New York Supreme Court was established as the Supreme Court of Judicature by the Province of New York on May 6, 1691. It became the New York Supreme Court under the New York Constitutional Convention of 1846.
- ^
"Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts home page"
.
Archived
from the original on 2013-11-06
. Retrieved
2013-10-16
.
- ^
Eichholz, Alice (2004). Alice Eichholz (ed.).
Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
(3rd Revised ed.). Ancestry Publishing. p.
316
.
ISBN
978-1593311667
.
- ^
"About the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ? SCOPA Review"
.
Archived
from the original on 21 May 2017
. Retrieved
7 July
2017
.
- ^
"John Adams Courthouse | Mass.gov"
.
www.mass.gov
. Retrieved
2024-03-15
.
- ^
Zobel, Hiller (1970).
Boston Massacre
, pp. 243?265
- ^
Zobel, pp. 269?286
- ^
Lowell, Delmar R.
,
The Historic Genealogy of the Lowells of America from 1639 to 1899
(p 35); Rutland VT, The Tuttle Company, 1899;
ISBN
978-0-7884-1567-8
.
Works cited
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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