Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall

Margaret H. Marshall is Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. A native of South Africa, she graduated from Witwaterstrand University in Johannesburg in 1966. In 1966, she was elected as President of the National Union of South African Students, and served in that capacity until 1968 when she came to the United States to pursue her graduate studies. She received a master's degree from Harvard University, and her J.D. from Yale Law School. Chief Justice Marshall was an associate, and later a partner, in the Boston law firm of Csapler & Bok, and was a partner in the Boston law firm of Choate, Hall & Stewart. Before her appointment to the Supreme Judicial Court, she was Vice President and General Counsel of Harvard University. First appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court in November 1996, she was named as Chief Justice in September 1999 by Governor Cellucci, and began her term on October 14, 1999 following her confirmation by the Governor's Council. Chief Justice Marshall is the second woman to serve on the Supreme Judicial Court in its over-300 year history, and the first woman to serve as Chief Justice.

Margaret Marshall was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court in November 1996 by (R) Gov. William Weld, she was named as Chief Justice in September 1999 by (R) Governor Cellucci.

Justice Roderick L. Ireland

Roderick L. Ireland is the Senior Associate Justiceof the Supreme Judicial Court. He was appointed in 1997, and is the first African-American to sit on this bench in its over three hundred year history. Previously, he served at the Massachusetts Appeals Court for seven years, and the Boston Juvenile Court for almost thirteen years.
Justice Ireland received his B.A. from Lincoln University, J.D. from Columbia University Law School, LL.M. from Harvard Law School, and Ph.D. in Law, Policy and Society from Northeastern University. He began his legal career in 1969 as a Neighborhood Legal Services attorney, and then worked as a public defender from 1971 to 1973 with the Roxbury Defenders Committee, first as chief attorney, then deputy and executive director. From 1975 to 1977 he served as Assistant Secretary and Chief Legal Counsel for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance. In 1977 he was also Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Appeal on Motor Vehicle Liability Policies and Bonds.
Justice Ireland has been an adjunct faculty member at Northeastern University since 1978, and has been on the faculty of the Appellate Judges Seminar at New York University Law School since 2001. He is the author of Massachusetts Juvenile Law, 2d edition, 2006, published by West Publishing; the first edition was published in 1993.
Justice Ireland has received a number of honors and awards, including the Great Friend of Justice Award from the Massachusetts Bar Foundation (2008); the Judicial Excellence Award from the Massachusetts Bar Association and Lawyers Weekly Newspaper (2001); the Judicial Excellence Award from the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys (1999); the St. Thomas More Award from Boston College Law School (1998); the Judicial Excellence Award from the Massachusetts Judges Conference (1996); the Distinguished Judicial Service Award from the Boston Bar Association (1990); the Boston Covenant Peace Prize (1982); and a number of honorary Doctor of Law degrees. Active in his community, Justice Ireland is a frequent speaker in schools, churches and community forums.

Justice Ireland was appointed to his Assoc. Justice post by (R) Gov. William Weld in 1997.

Justice Francis X. Spina

Francis X. Spina, Associate Justice, was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on November 13, 1946. He received a B.A. degree from Amherst College and a J.D. degree from Boston College Law School. From 1972 to 1974 Justice Spina served with Western Massachusetts Legal Services. From 1975-1977 he served as an Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Pittsfield Law Department. From 1979-1983 he served as Second Assistant District Attorney in the Berkshire County Attorney's Office. Justice Spina was a partner with the Pittsfield law firms of Reder, Whalen, and Spina and Katz, Lapointe and Spina from 1983 to 1993. Justice Spina served on the Superior Court from 1993 to 1997; the Massachusetts Appeals Court from 1997 to 1999; and was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court on October 14, 1999. He lives in Pittsfield with his wife Sally (O'Donnell) Spina.

Justice Spina was appointed by (R) Gov. William Weld in 1993 to the Superior Court. He then went on to the Appeals Court under an appointment from (R) Gov. William Weld. (R) Gov. Paul Cellucci went on to become Gov. and appointed him as a SJC Assoc. Justice in 1999.

Justice Judith A. Cowin

Judith A. Cowin, Associate Justice, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, April 29, 1942. She is married and has three grown children, April Cowin Stein, Jackie A. Cowin and William P. Cowin. A graduate of Wellesley College, she received her J.D. from Harvard Law School. From 1971-1972, she served as assistant legal counsel to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. From 1972-1979, she was legal counsel for the Office of the Chief Justice of the District Court Department. She was an Assistant District Attorney in Norfolk County from 1979-1991, prosecuting jury-of-six cases from 1979-1980 and felony cases in the Superior Court from 1980-1991. She was also a clinical field supervisor for Harvard Law School in 1980. In 1991, she was appointed an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court where she served until Governor A. Paul Cellucci appointed her as an Associate Justice to the Supreme Judicial Court in October, 1999

* She worked under Former Congressman Bill Delahunt, who was a former Cop and Ma State House Rep. before becoming the DA of Norfolk County (1975-1996). He then went on to become the MA 10th District Congressman (1997-2011). Delahunt announced retirement in 2010, shortly after the Amy Bishop scandal broke. Assoc. Justice Cowen was appointed in 1991 by (R) Gov. William Weld as an Assoc. Justice of the Superior Court before being appointed as a Supreme Court Assoc. Justice by (R) Paul Cellucci who took over for (R) William Weld when he resigned his Gov. post in 1997 to unsuccessfully run for the US Senate, and succeeded him as Gov.before he too resigned in 2001to take a post as Ambassador to Canada under (R) Bush. After (R) Weld lost his bid for Senate to (D) John Kerry - (D) Pres. Bill Clinton nominated him to become Ambassador to Mexico, but this never took place because the Senate blocked hearings into his nomination. It was said that former disgraced (R) AG Edwin Meese,under Bush 1,with other Top Republicans were behind this, over the Inslaw Investigation.

Justice Robert J. Cordy

Robert J. Cordy, Associate Justice, was born in Manchester , Connecticut , on May 18, 1949. He received his A.B. degree cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1971, and his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1974. Justice Cordy began his legal career in 1974 as a defense attorney for the Massachusetts Defenders Committee. From 1978 to 1979, he worked for the Department of Revenue, where he served as a Deputy Commissioner and a Special Assistant Attorney General-(Under D-AG Frances Bellotti,-Christa Worthington's AAG fathers boss). From 1979 to 1982, he was Associate General Counsel in Charge of Enforcement at the State Ethics Commission.Justice Cordy served as a federal prosecutor in the District of Massachusetts under U.S. Attorney (R Reagan/Bush Appointee-Whitey/Billy Bulger) William F. Weld from 1982 to 1987. While in that Office, he became Chief of the Public Corruption Unit. He was a partner in the law firm of Burns & Levinson in Boston from 1987 to 1990. From 1991 to 1993, he served as Chief Legal Counsel to Governor William F. Weld. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Judicial Court , Justice Cordy was Managing Partner of the Boston office of the international law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery, which he joined in 1993. In addition to his other positions, he was a lecturer at Harvard Law School from 1987 to 1996, and is currently a member of the adjunct faculty of New England Law School , where he teaches advanced criminal procedure. He was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court in February, 2001. He is married and has four children.

This is the same group that was being investigated by Congress (2001-2003) for CORRUPTION that FBI Director Mueller was/is a part of (1982-1987) as the "NEW MOB" formed while framing and prosecuting, what became their competitors in the old Organized Crime underworld, best known as "The Mafia."

He was appointed an Assoc. Justice by former (R) Gov. Paul Cellucci in 2001, just prior to his departure to become Ambassador to Canada under (R) Bush.

Justice Margot Botsford

Honorable Margot Botsford, Associate Justice, was born in New York, New York on March 16, 1947. She received her B.A. from Barnard College, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1969. She earned her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law in 1973 and an M.P.A. degree from Harvard University 's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2007. Upon graduating from law school, she served as Law Clerk to Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis J. Quirico. During the next sixteen years she worked primarily in the public sector. She served four years as an Assistant Attorney General under Attorney General Frank Bellotti(She would have worked with the victim's father, Christopher"Toppy" Worthington who also served seventeen years as an AAG) and later as an Assistant District Attorney in the office of Middlesex County District Attorney Scott Harshbarger for six years. She also practiced law in the private sector for one year as an associate at the firm of Hill & Barlow(The same firm that former Boston Fed. Pros./Current FBI Director Mueller was once a partner), and three years as a partner in the Boston law firm of Rosenfeld, Botsford & Krokidas. In 1989, she was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Superior Court, where she served for eighteen years. Governor Deval Patrick appointed her to the Supreme Judicial Court in September, 2007. Justice Botsford has taught at Northeastern University School of Law, Boston University Law School, the National Judicial College, and the Flaschner Judicial Institute. Among her awards and honors are Judicial Excellence Awards from the Massachusetts Judicial Conference and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, and the Haskell Cohn Distinguished Judicial Service Award from the Boston Bar Association.

She was appointed to Assoc. Justice of the Superior Court by (D) Michael Dukakis in 1989 and then to the Supreme Judicial Court in 2007 by (D) Gov. Deval Patrick.

Justice Ralph D. Gants

Honorable Ralph D. Gants, Associate Justice, was born in New Rochelle, New York in 1954. He received his B.A. from Harvard College in 1976, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. The following year he completed a Diploma in Criminology at Cambridge University in England. In 1980, he earned a J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School where he was note editor of the Harvard Law Review. After graduation from law school, Justice Gants served as Law Clerk to United States District Court Judge Eugene H. Nickerson. From 1981 to 1983, he was Special Assistant to Judge William H. Webster, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1978-1987-(Notes: William Webster under Reagan/Bush there was Iran Contra besides the FBI was busy taking down the Old Mafia, since proven becoming the defacto "New Mob". William Webster was also the CIA Chief under Reagan & Bush from 1987-1991, it was later learned that the CIA was bringing in drugs to Mena, AK and selling drugs to the inner cities to raise cash for the arms being shipped to foreign fighters.) In 1983, he was appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts (alongside Robert Mueller, William Weld and MA SJC Justice Robert Cordy), serving as Chief of the Public Corruption Division from 1988 to 1991. In 1991, he joined the Boston law firm of Palmer & Dodge LLP, becoming a partner in 1994. He was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Superior Court in 1997 by Governor William Weld. In 2008, he served as Administrative Justice of the Superior Court's Business Litigation Session. Governor Deval Patrick appointed Justice Gants to the Supreme Judicial Court in January 2009. He has taught at Harvard Law School, New England School of Law, and Northeastern University School of Law. Justice Gants is married with two children

He became Chief replacing Justice Cordy. This is the same group that was being investigated byCongress (2001-2003) for CORRUPTION that FBI Director Mueller was/is a part of as the "NEW MOB" formed while framing and prosecuting, what became their competitors in the old Organized Crime underworld, best known as "The Mafia."

MA Governor's - Lt. Governor's

Commonwealth of Massachusetts: 1780–present

This is a complete list of governors of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Acting governors, denoted as "A" instead of numbered, are included when the Governor resigned or died. Acting governors show a vacancy in the lieutenant governorship. They remain as Lieutenant Governors and merely act as governor. Lieutenant governors in Massachusetts do not ascend to the governorship upon death or resignation of their predecessor.

# / Governor / Picture / Took office / Left office / Party / Lieutenant Governor(s) / Notes
1 / John Hancock / / 1780 / 1785 / None / Thomas Cushing / [1]
A / Thomas Cushing / / 1785 / 1785 / None / (himself) / [2]
2 / James Bowdoin / / 1785 / 1787 / None / Thomas Cushing
3 / John Hancock / / May 30, 1787 / October 8, 1793 / None / Thomas Cushing
(1787–1788) / [3]
Benjamin Lincoln
(1788–1789)
Samuel Adams
(1789–1793)
4 / Samuel Adams / / October 8, 1793 / June 2, 1797 / None / Moses Gill
(1794–1799) / [4]
5 / Increase Sumner / / June 2, 1797 / June 7, 1799 / Federalist / [3]
A / Moses Gill / / June 7, 1799 / May 20, 1800 / None / (Moses Gill 1799-1800 & vacant 1800) / [2][3]
A / Governor's Council / / May 20, 1800 / May 30, 1800 / None / [5]
6 / Caleb Strong / / May 30, 1800 / May 29, 1807 / Federalist / Samuel Phillips, Jr.
(1801–1802)
Edward H. Robbins
(1802–1806)
7 / James Sullivan / / May 29, 1807 / December 10, 1808 / Democratic-Republican / Levi Lincoln, Sr. / [3]
A / Levi Lincoln, Sr. / / December 10, 1808 / May 1, 1809 / Democratic-Republican / (himself) / [2]
8 / Christopher Gore / / May 1, 1809 / June 10, 1810 / Federalist / David Cobb
9 / Elbridge Gerry / / June 10, 1810 / March 4, 1812 / Democratic-Republican / William Gray
10 / Caleb Strong / / June 1812 / May 30, 1816 / Federalist / William Phillips, Jr.
11 / John Brooks / / May 30, 1816 / May 31, 1823 / Federalist
12 / William Eustis / / May 31, 1823 / February 6, 1825 / Democratic-Republican / Levi Lincoln, Jr.
(1823–1824) / [3]
Marcus Morton
(1824–1825)
A / Marcus Morton / / February 6, 1825 / May 26, 1825 / Democratic-Republican / (himself) / [2]
13 / Levi Lincoln, Jr. / / May 26, 1825 / January 9, 1834 / Democratic-Republican / Thomas L. Winthrop
(1826–1833)
Samuel Turell Armstrong
(1833–1834)
14 / John Davis / / January 9, 1834 / March 1, 1835 / Whig / Samuel Turell Armstrong / [6]
A / Samuel Turell Armstrong / / March 1, 1835 / January 13, 1836 / Whig / (himself) / [2]
15 / Edward Everett / / January 13, 1836 / January 18, 1840 / Whig / George Hull
16 / Marcus Morton / / January 18, 1840 / January 7, 1841 / Democratic
17 / John Davis / / January 7, 1841 / January 17, 1843 / Whig
18 / Marcus Morton / / January 17, 1843 / January 1844 / Democratic / Henry H. Childs
19 / George N. Briggs / / January 1844 / January 11, 1851 / Whig / John Reed, Jr.
20 / George S. Boutwell / / January 11, 1851 / January 14, 1853 / Democratic / Henry W. Cushman
21 / John H. Clifford / / January 14, 1853 / January 12, 1854 / Whig / Elisha Huntington
22 / Emory Washburn / / January 12, 1854 / January 4, 1855 / Whig / William C. Plunkett
23 / Henry J. Gardner / / January 4, 1855 / January 7, 1858 / Know-Nothing / Simon Brown
(1855–1856)
Henry W. Benchley
(1856–1858)
24 / Nathaniel Prentice Banks / / January 7, 1858 / January 3, 1861 / Republican / Eliphalet Trask
25 / John Albion Andrew / / January 3, 1861 / January 4, 1866 / Republican / John Z. Goodrich
(1861)
John Nesmith
(1862)
Joel Hayden
(1863–1866)
26 / Alexander H. Bullock / / January 4, 1866 / January 7, 1869 / Republican / William Claflin
27 / William Claflin / / January 7, 1869 / January 4, 1872 / Republican / Joseph Tucker
28 / William B. Washburn / / January 4, 1872 / April 29, 1874 / Republican / Joseph Tucker
(1872–1873) / [6]
Thomas Talbot
(1873–1874)
A / Thomas Talbot / / April 29, 1874 / January 7, 1875 / Republican / (himself) / [2]
29 / William Gaston / / January 7, 1875 / January 6, 1876 / Democratic / Horatio G. Knight
30 / Alexander H. Rice / / January 6, 1876 / January 2, 1879 / Republican
31 / Thomas Talbot / / January 2, 1879 / January 8, 1880 / Republican / John Davis Long
32 / John Davis Long / / January 8, 1880 / January 4, 1883 / Republican / Byron Weston
33 / Benjamin Franklin Butler / / January 4, 1883 / January 3, 1884 / Democratic / Oliver Ames
34 / George D. Robinson / / January 3, 1884 / January 6, 1887 / Republican
35 / Oliver Ames / / January 6, 1887 / January 7, 1890 / Republican / John Q. A. Brackett
36 / John Q. A. Brackett / / January 7, 1890 / January 8, 1891 / Republican / William H. Haile
37 / William E. Russell / / January 8, 1891 / January 4, 1894 / Democratic / William H. Haile
(1891–1893)
Roger Wolcott
(1893–1894)
38 / Frederic T. Greenhalge / / January 4, 1894 / March 5, 1896 / Republican / Roger Wolcott / [3]
39 / Roger Wolcott / / January 1897 / January 4, 1900 / Republican / (himself)
(1896–1897) / [4]
Winthrop M. Crane
(1897–1900)
40 / Winthrop M. Crane / / January 4, 1900 / January 8, 1903 / Republican / John L. Bates
41 / John L. Bates / / January 8, 1903 / January 5, 1905 / Republican / Curtis Guild, Jr.
42 / William Lewis Douglas / / January 5, 1905 / January 4, 1906 / Democratic
43 / Curtis Guild, Jr. / / January 4, 1906 / January 7, 1909 / Republican / Ebenezer Sumner Draper
44 / Ebenezer Sumner Draper / / January 7, 1909 / January 5, 1911 / Republican / Louis A. Frothingham
45 / Eugene Foss / / January 5, 1911 / January 8, 1914 / Democratic / Louis A. Frothingham
(1911–1912)
Robert Luce
(1912–1913)
David I. Walsh
(1913–1914)
46 / David I. Walsh / / January 8, 1914 / January 6, 1916 / Democratic / Edward P. Barry
(1914–1915)
Grafton D. Cushing
(1915–1916)
47 / Samuel W. McCall / January 6, 1916 / January 2, 1919 / Republican / Calvin Coolidge
48 / Calvin Coolidge / / January 2, 1919 / January 6, 1921 / Republican / Channing H. Cox
49 / Channing H. Cox / / January 6, 1921 / January 8, 1925 / Republican / Alvan T. Fuller
50 / Alvan T. Fuller / / January 8, 1925 / January 3, 1929 / Republican / Frank G. Allen
51 / Frank G. Allen / / January 3, 1929 / January 8, 1931 / Republican / William S. Youngman
52 / Joseph B. Ely / January 8, 1931 / January 3, 1935 / Democratic / William S. Youngman
(1931–1933)
Gaspar G. Bacon
(1933–1935)
53 / James Michael Curley / / January 3, 1935 / January 7, 1937 / Democratic / Joseph L. Hurley
54 / Charles F. Hurley / January 7, 1937 / January 5, 1939 / Democratic / Francis E. Kelly
55 / Leverett Saltonstall / / January 5, 1939 / January 3, 1945 / Republican / Horace T. Cahill
56 / Maurice J. Tobin / / January 3, 1945 / January 2, 1947 / Democratic / Robert F. Bradford
57 / Robert F. Bradford / January 2, 1947 / January 6, 1949 / Republican / Arthur W. Coolidge
58 / Paul A. Dever / January 6, 1949 / January 8, 1953 / Democratic / Charles F. Sullivan
59 / Christian Herter / / January 8, 1953 / January 3, 1957 / Republican / Sumner G. Whittier
60 / Foster Furcolo / January 3, 1957 / January 5, 1961 / Democratic / Robert F. Murphy
(1957–1960)
61 / John A. Volpe / / January 5, 1961 / January 3, 1963 / Republican / Edward F. McLaughlin, Jr.
62 / Endicott Peabody / January 3, 1963 / January 7, 1965 / Democratic / Francis X. Belotti
63 / John A. Volpe / / January 7, 1965 / January 22, 1969 / Republican / Elliot Richardson
(1965–1967) / [7]
Francis W. Sargent
(1967–1969)
64 / Francis W. Sargent / January 22, 1969 / January 2, 1975 / Republican / Donald R. Dwight / [4]
65 / Michael Dukakis / / January 2, 1975 / January 4, 1979 / Democratic / Thomas P. O'Neill III
66 / Edward J. King / January 4, 1979 / January 6, 1983 / Democratic
67 / Michael Dukakis / / January 6, 1983 / January 3, 1991 / Democratic / John Kerry
(1983–1985)
(vacant)
(1985–1987)
Evelyn Murphy
(1987–1991)
68 / William Weld / / January 3, 1991 / July 29, 1997 / Republican / A. Paul Cellucci / [8]
A / A. Paul Cellucci / / January 7, 1999 / April 10, 2001 / Republican / (himself)
(1997–1999) / [4][9]
69 / Jane Swift
(1999–2001)
A / Jane Swift / / April 10, 2001 / January 2, 2003 / Republican / (herself) / [2]
70 / Mitt Romney / / January 2, 2003 / January 4, 2007 / Republican / Kerry Healey
71 / Deval Patrick / January 4, 2007 / Incumbent / Democratic / Tim Murray / [10]

[edit]Notes

  1. ^ Resigned due to illness (recurring gout), and to attempt to calm what became Shay's Rebellion.
  2. ^ abcdefg As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term.
  3. ^ abcdef Died
  4. ^ abcd As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term, and was later elected in his own right.
  5. ^ Due to both governor and lieutenant governor being vacant, the council acted as governor.
  6. ^ ab Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.
  7. ^ Resigned to be United States Secretary of Transportation.
  8. ^ Resigned to be appointed Ambassador to Mexico, but the United States Senate did not confirm him for the post.
  9. ^ Resigned to take post as Ambassador to Canada.
  10. ^ Governor Patrick's first term expires January 5, 2011; he is not term limited.

SJC Justices Public Information