The Massachusetts Appeals Court is the intermediate appellate court of Massachusetts. [1] It was created in 1972 [2] as a court of general appellate jurisdiction. [3] The court is located at the John Adams Courthouse at Pemberton Square in Boston, [4] the same building which houses the Supreme Judicial Court and the Social Law Library. [5]
The Appeals Court hears most appeals from the seven court departments of the Massachusetts Trial Court, including the Superior, District, Probate and Family, Juvenile, Land, Housing, and Boston Municipal Court departments. [6] [7] The Appeals Court also hears appeals from final decisions of certain Massachusetts administrative agencies, including the Department of Industrial Accidents, the Appellate Tax Board, and the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board. [8]
Some types of appeals are not heard before the Appeals Court. For example, an appeal from a conviction of first degree murder goes directly to the Supreme Judicial Court. [9] The Supreme Judicial Court can also elect to bypass review by the Appeals Court and hear a case on "direct appellate review." [10] [11] In the District Court Department, appeals in certain civil cases are made first to the Appellate Division of the District Court before being eligible for appeal to the Appeals Court. [12] After a decision by the Appeals Court, a party may seek "further appellate review" by requesting review by the Supreme Judicial Court. [13]
The Appeals Court usually hears cases in three-judge panels, which rotate so that every judge has an opportunity to sit with every other judge. [14] In addition to its panel sittings, the Appeals Court runs a continuous "single justice" session, with a separate docket. The single justice may review interlocutory orders and orders for injunctive relief issued by certain Trial Court departments, as well as requests for review of summary process appeal bonds, certain attorney's fee awards, motions for stays (postponement) of civil proceedings or criminal sentences pending appeal, and motions to review impoundment orders. Each associate justice sits as single justice for a month at a time. [15] Appeals are heard from September through July at the John Adams Courthouse as well as at special sessions held at various locations such as law schools throughout Massachusetts. [16]
Twenty-five justices sit on the Appeals Court: one chief justice and twenty-four associate justices. The current chief justice of the Appeals Court is Mark V. Green. [17]
If a Massachusetts appellate justice (that is, a justice of either the Appeals Court or of the Supreme Judicial Court) attains age 70 and retires, that justice may be recalled to active service on the Appeals Court as needed. Currently, no recall justices are serving. [18] [19]
The court's current members, listed by seniority, are as follows:
Former justices:
The following justices have been elevated from the Appeals Court to the Supreme Judicial Court
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.
The Connecticut Appellate Court is the court of first appeals for all cases arising from the Connecticut Superior Courts. Its creation in 1983 required Connecticut's voters and legislature to amend the state's constitution. The court heard its first cases on October 4, 1983. The Appellate Court was also a partial successor to the former Appellate Session of the Superior Court, a court established to hear appeals in minor matters
G. Joseph Tauro was the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1970 to 1976.
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.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is governed by a set of political tenets laid down in its state constitution. Legislative power is held by the bicameral General Court, which is composed of the Senate and House of Representatives. The governor exercises executive power with other independently elected officers: the Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, and Auditor. The state's judicial power rests in the Supreme Judicial Court, which manages its court system. Cities and towns act through local governmental bodies to the extent that they are authorized by the Commonwealth on local issues, including limited home-rule authority. Although most county governments were abolished during the 1990s and 2000s, a handful remain.
Francis Patrick O'Connor was an American lawyer and jurist from Massachusetts. He was long-time associate justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court who was noted for his frequent and thorough dissents.
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 P. Wilkins 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.
The Boston Municipal Court (BMC), officially the Boston Municipal Court Department of the Trial Court, is a department of the Trial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The court hears criminal, civil, mental health, restraining orders, and other types of cases. The court also has an appellate division which reviews questions of law that arise from civil matters filed in the eight divisions of the department.
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.
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.
Robert J. Cordy is a former Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court who served from 2001 to 2016.
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.
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.
Scott Lewis Kafker is an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and the former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals 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 an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and the former justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
Dalila Argaez Wendlandt is an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. She is a former Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)State intermediate appellate courts in the United States | ||
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Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming do not have intermediate appellate courts. | ||
