Suffolk University Law School is the private,non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston,across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail,two blocks from the Massachusetts State House,and a short walk to the financial district. Suffolk Law was founded in 1906 by Gleason Archer Sr. to provide a legal education for those who traditionally lacked the opportunity to study law because of socio-economic or racial discrimination.
Dwight Foster was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He served as Massachusetts Attorney General and was an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
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.
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.
Capital punishment,more commonly known as the death penalty,was a legal form of punishment from 1620 to 1984 in Massachusetts. This practice dates back to the state's earliest European settlers. Those sentenced to death were hanged. Common crimes punishable by death included religious affiliations and murder.
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.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of Massachusetts enjoy the same rights as non-LGBT people. The U.S. state of Massachusetts is one of the most LGBT-friendly states in the country. In 2004,it became the first U.S. state to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health,and the sixth jurisdiction worldwide,after the Netherlands,Belgium,Ontario,British Columbia,and Quebec.
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.
Harold Putnam Williams was an American attorney and judge who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts from 1925 to 1926 and as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1947 to 1962.
Marian T. Ryan is the District Attorney (DA) of Middlesex County,Massachusetts,United States. She was the Commonwealth's only female District Attorney from 2013 to 2018. As of 2012,she is one of two,including Andrea Harrington,Berkshire County DA. She is a Democrat.
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.
Judge Peter W. Agnes Jr. is a former justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court as an Associate Justice,having been appointed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2011 and serving until reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2020. In addition to being an active member of the legal community in providing "…service on numerous Supreme Judicial Court and Bar Association committees,commissions[,]…task forces,[et al.]…," Justice Agnes has also been passionate about education,having taught at the Massachusetts School of Law for the past fifteen years,and continuing to do so currently. Agnes presently resides in Wayland,MA with his wife Eileen Agnes. They have four children and three grandchildren,boasting a passionate relationship with their extensive family outside of their legal careers.
David A. Lowy is an American attorney,academic and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
Elspeth B. Cypher is an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and the former justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
Arthur Walter Dolan was a justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1937 to 1949. He was appointed by Governor Charles F. Hurley.
Serge Georges Jr. is an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and a former Judge of the Boston Municipal Court.
