View source for Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

{{Short description|Highest court in the U.S. state of Massachusetts}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{coord|42.359297|-71.060954|type:landmark_region:US|display=title}}
{{Infobox high court
|court_name = Supreme Judicial Court<br> of Massachusetts
|image = Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.png
|imagesize = 200px
|caption = Seal with motto "''Nulli vendemus, nulli negabimus aut differemus, rectum aut justitiam''" (To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice)
|established = {{start date and age|1692}}
|location = [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], U.S.
|coordinates = {{coord|42|21|32.75|N|71|3|40.5|W|}}
|type = Executive appointments with [[Massachusetts Governor's Council|quasi-legislative consent]]
|authority = [[Constitution of Massachusetts|Massachusetts Constitution]]
|appealsto = [[Supreme Court of the United States]]
|terms = Mandatory retirement at 70 years of age
|positions = 7
|website = [http://www.mass.gov/courts/court-info/sjc/ Official website]
|chiefjudgetitle = Chief Justice
|chiefjudgename = [[Kimberly S. Budd]]
|termstart = December 1, 2020
|termend = October 23, 2036 
|termend2 =
}}
[[File:John Adams Courthouse SJC Massachusetts.JPG|thumb|200px|right|[[John Adams Courthouse]], home to the SJC]]
The '''Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court''' ('''SJC''') is the [[court of last resort|highest court]] in the [[Commonwealth (U.S. state)|Commonwealth]] of [[Massachusetts]]. Although the claim is disputed by the [[Supreme Court of Pennsylvania]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Supreme Court - Courts - Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania |url=http://pacourts.us|access-date= 7 July 2017}}</ref><ref>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.</ref> the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the [[Americas]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.massreports.com/|title=Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts home page|access-date=2013-10-16|archive-date=2013-11-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106030803/http://www.massreports.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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]].<ref name=Eichholz>{{cite book|last=Eichholz|first=Alice|title=Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources|year=2004|publisher=Ancestry Publishing|isbn=978-1593311667|page=[https://archive.org/details/redbookamericans00eich/page/316 316]|edition=3rd Revised|editor=Alice Eichholz|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/redbookamericans00eich/page/316}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|The [[Supreme Court of Pennsylvania]] disputes this, claiming to be eight years older.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scopareview.com/about/supreme-court-of-pennsylvania/|title=About the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania – SCOPA Review|access-date=7 July 2017|archive-date=21 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521010858/http://scopareview.com/about/supreme-court-of-pennsylvania/|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

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.

==History==
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 [[Constitution of Massachusetts|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==
The SJC sits at the [[John Adams Courthouse]], One [[Pemberton Square (Boston)|Pemberton Square]], [[Boston, Massachusetts]] 02108, which also houses the [[Massachusetts Appeals Court]] and the [[Social Law Library]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Adams Courthouse {{!}} Mass.gov |url=https://www.mass.gov/locations/john-adams-courthouse |access-date=2024-03-15 |website=www.mass.gov |language=en}}</ref> The legal citation for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is "Mass."

==Landmark cases==
* ''[[Boston Massacre#Trials|Rex v. Preston]]'' (1770)&nbsp;– Captain [[Thomas Preston (British Army officer)|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]].<ref>Zobel, Hiller (1970). ''Boston Massacre'', pp. 243–265</ref>
* ''[[Boston Massacre#Trials|Rex v. Wemms, et al.]]'' (1770)&nbsp;– Six soldiers involved in the [[Boston Massacre]] were found not guilty, and two more{{spaced ndash}}the only two proven to have fired{{spaced ndash}}were found guilty of manslaughter.<ref>Zobel, pp. 269–286</ref>
* ''[[Commonwealth v. Nathaniel Jennison]]'' (1783)&nbsp;– The Court declared [[slavery]] [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]] in the state of Massachusetts by allowing slaves to [[lawsuit|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 ..."<ref>[[Delmar R. Lowell|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}}.</ref> With this case, he fulfilled his promise. Slavery in Massachusetts was denied legal standing.
* ''[[Commonwealth v. Hunt]]'' (1842)&nbsp;– 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)&nbsp;– The Court established the "[[separate but equal]]" doctrine that would later be used in ''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'' by maintaining that the law gave [[school board]]s 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)&nbsp;– The Court ruled 4–3 that the denial of [[marriage license]]s to [[same-sex couple]]s 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==
The Court consists of a [[Chief Justice]] and six [[Associate Justice]]s appointed by the [[Governor of Massachusetts]] with the consent of the [[Massachusetts Governor's Council|Governor's Council]].

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

===Current composition===
{{Main|List of justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court}}

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Name
!Born
!Start
!Mandatory Retirement
!Appointer
!Law School
|-
|{{sortname|Kimberly S.|Budd}}, ''Chief Justice''
|{{birth date and age|1966|10|23}}
|{{dts|2016|8|24}}{{efn|Took office as Chief Justice on December 1, 2020 after being appointed by Governor Baker.}}
|2036
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |[[Charlie Baker]] (R)
|[[Harvard Law School|Harvard]]
|-
|{{sortname|Frank|Gaziano}}
|{{birth date and age|1963|9|8}}
|{{dts|2016|8|18}}
|2034
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |[[Charlie Baker]] (R)
|[[Suffolk University Law School|Suffolk]]
|-
|{{sortname|Scott L.|Kafker}}
|{{birth date and age|1959|4|24}}
|{{dts|2017|8|21}} 
|2029
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |[[Charlie Baker]] (R)
|[[University of Chicago Law School|Chicago]]
|-
|{{sortname|Dalila Argaez|Wendlandt}}
|{{birth year and age|1969|10}}
|{{dts|2020|12|4}} 
|2039
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |[[Charlie Baker]] (R)
|[[Stanford Law School|Stanford]]
|-
|{{sortname|Serge|Georges Jr.}}
|{{birth year and age|1970|4}}
|{{dts|2020|12|16}} 
|2040
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |[[Charlie Baker]] (R)
|Suffolk
|-
|{{sortname|Bessie|Dewar}}
|{{birth date and age|1980|7|4}}
|{{dts|2024|1|16}} 
|2050
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |[[Maura Healey]] (D)
|[[Yale Law School|Yale]]
|-
|{{sortname|Gabrielle|Wolohojian}}
|{{birth date and age|1960|12|16}}
|{{dts|2024|4|22}}
|2030
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |[[Maura Healey]] (D)
|[[Columbia Law School|Columbia]]
|}

{{notelist}}<!--

=== Vacancies and pending nominations ===
{|class=wikitable
!Vacator
!Reason
!Vacancy Date
!Nominee
!Nomination Date
|-
|{{sortname|XX|XX}}
|
|{{dts|XX XX, 2025}}
|''Pending''// {{sortname|XX|XX}}
|TBD // {{dts|XX XX, 2025}}
|} -->


{{image array |perrow=7 |width=140 |height=150
|image1   = Kimberly S. Budd.jpg
|caption1 = Chief Justice [[Kimberly S. Budd]]

|image2   = Frank M. Gaziano.jpg
|caption2 = Associate Justice [[Frank Gaziano]]

|image3   = Scott L. Kafker.jpg
|caption3 = Associate Justice [[Scott L. Kafker]]

|image4   = Dalila Argaez Wendlandt.jpg
|caption4 = Associate Justice [[Dalila Argaez Wendlandt]]

|image5   = Serge Georges, Jr.jpg
|caption5 = Associate Justice [[Serge Georges Jr.]]

|image6   = Justice Bessie Dewar.jpg
|caption6 = Associate Justice [[Bessie Dewar]]

|image7   = Justice Gabrielle R. Wolohojian.jpg
|caption7 = Associate Justice [[Gabrielle Wolohojian]]
}}

===Notable members===
* [[William Cushing]], [[Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court|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 United States Supreme Court|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 United States Supreme Court|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==
{{reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Works cited==
* Davis, William (1900). [https://archive.org/details/historyjudiciar00davigoog/page/n34 <!-- pg=1 --> ''History of the Judiciary of Massachusetts'']
* [https://archive.org/details/massachusettsci01whitgoog/page/n57 <!-- pg=68 --> ''Massachusetts Civil List for the Colonial and Provincial Periods'']
* Reno, Conrad. [https://books.google.com/books?id=kGswAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA75 ''Memoirs of the Judiciary and the Bar of New England'', Volume 1]

==External links==
{{Commons category|Supreme Court of Massachusetts}}
*[http://www.mass.gov/courts/court-info/sjc/ Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts]
*[https://www.mass.gov/doc/supreme-judicial-court-justices-order-of-succession-chart-from-1801-to-present/download List of Chief Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court] (since 1801)
*[http://www.massreports.com/ Office of the Reporter of Decisions of the SJC]
*{{citation |title= Supreme Judicial Court |hdl= 2452/36895 }}. (Various documents).
*[http://www.h-net.org/~hns/articles/2003/112903a.html Gay-Marriage Decision: Just the Beginning of the Debate]
*[https://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/239/ Memoirs v. Massachusetts]
*[http://www.bartleby.com/63/93/1793.html Simpson's Contemporary Quotations]
*[https://www.youtube.com/c/massachusettssupremejudicialcourt Supreme Judicial Court Oral Arguments Archive]

{{Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court}}
{{Current Massachusetts statewide political officials}}
{{Massachusetts government}}
{{US Judiciaries}}
{{Lists of US Justices}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court| ]]
[[Category:State supreme courts of the United States]]
[[Category:Massachusetts state courts]]
[[Category:1692 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay]]
[[Category:Government Center, Boston]]
[[Category:Courts and tribunals established in 1692]]