William Cushing was one of the original five associate justices of the United States Supreme Court;confirmed by the United States Senate on September 26,1789,he served until his death. His Supreme Court tenure of 20 years and 11 months was the longest among the Court's inaugural members. In January 1796,he was nominated by President George Washington to become the Court's Chief Justice;though confirmed,he declined the appointment. He was the last judge in the United States to wear a full wig.
Benjamin Robbins Curtis was an American lawyer and judge who served as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1851 to 1857. Curtis was the first and only Whig justice of the Supreme Court,and he was the first Supreme Court justice to have a formal law degree. He is often remembered as one of the two dissenters in the Supreme Court's infamous 1857 decision Dred Scott v. Sandford.
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.
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.
Ann Claire Williams is a retired United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She is currently of counsel at Jones Day.
John M. Greaney is a former Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. After his judicial retirement,he served as Director of the Macaronis Institute for Trial and Appellate Advocacy at Suffolk University Law School. He currently is in private practice as senior counsel at Bulkley Richardson in Springfield,Massachusetts.
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.
Joseph Richard Nolan was an American jurist.
Geraldine S. Hines is an American retired judge who formerly served served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 2014 to 2017. She was nominated in July 2014 by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and confirmed by an 8–0 vote of the Governor's Council. She succeeded Ralph D. Gants,who was promoted to chief justice.
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.
Dalila Argaez Wendlandt is an American lawyer who has served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court since 2020. She previously served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court from 2017 to 2020.
Elizabeth Napier "Bessie" Dewar is an American lawyer who has served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court since 2024. She previously served as the state solicitor of Massachusetts from 2016 to 2024. Prior to serving as the state solicitor,she had served as the assistant state solicitor under former state solicitor Peter Sacks.
