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.
Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Massachusetts since May 17,2004,as a result of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that it was unconstitutional under the Massachusetts Constitution to allow only opposite-sex couples to marry. Massachusetts was the sixth jurisdiction in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. It was the first U.S. state to open marriage to same-sex couples.
Margaret Hilary Marshall is an American jurist who served as the 24th chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court,the first woman to hold the position. She was chief justice from 1999 to 2010. On July 21,2010,she announced her retirement. She was Senior Fellow of the Yale Corporation until she retired from the board in 2016,Senior Counsel at Choate Hall &Stewart,and a member of the Council of the American Law Institute. Marshall was elected in 2017 to the American Philosophical Society.
Ruth Ida Abrams was the first female justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court,where she served from 1978 to 2000,and the first female appellate justice in Massachusetts.
Paul Julian Liacos was the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1989 to 1996.
G. Joseph Tauro was the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1970 to 1976.
Martha B. Sosman was an American lawyer and jurist from Massachusetts. Appointed by Governor Paul Cellucci,she served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 2000 until her death.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court is the intermediate appellate court of Massachusetts. It was created in 1972 as a court of general appellate jurisdiction. The court is located at the John Adams Courthouse at Pemberton Square in Boston,the same building which houses the Supreme Judicial Court and the Social Law Library.
Roderick L. Ireland is a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts,and the first African American to serve that position. He was nominated for Chief Justice by Governor Deval Patrick on November 4,2010,and sworn in on December 20. He retired from service on the court on July 25,2014.
Herbert Putnam Wilkins is an American jurist who served as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1996 to 1999,a position his father,Raymond Sanger Wilkins,held from 1956 to 1970.
Barbara A. Lenk is an American attorney and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. On April 4,2011,Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick nominated her to that position and she was confirmed by the Governor's Council on May 4,2011. She took the oath of office on June 8,2011.
Judith Cathy Arnold Cowin is a retired justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Ralph D. Gants was an American attorney and jurist who served as the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He was sworn in on July 28,2014. Gants had previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney.
Francis X. Spina is a former Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
The judiciary of Massachusetts is the branch of the government of Massachusetts that interprets and applies the law of Massachusetts,ensures equal justice under law,and provides a mechanism for dispute resolution. The judicial power in Massachusetts is reposed in the Supreme Judicial Court,which superintends the entire system of courts.
Scott Lewis Kafker is an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and the former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
Frank M. Gaziano is an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Kimberly S. Budd is the chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and former justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court.
Elspeth B. Cypher is a former justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts who served from 2017 to 2024. She is also a former justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court,where she served from 2000 to 2017.
Alden P. White was an American jurist who served as a judge of the Essex County Probate Court.
