Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court justice vacancy (September 2020)

Massachusetts Supreme Court

Gants vacancy
Date:
September 14, 2020
Status:
Seat filled
Nomination
Nominee:
Chief justice: Kimberly S. Budd
Associate justice: Serge Georges Jr.
Date:
Chief justice: October 28, 2020
Associate justice: November 17, 2020

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (R) appointed Kimberly S. Budd to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on October 28, 2020. Budd succeeded Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants, who died on September 14, 2020.[1] Budd was Gov. Baker's seventh nominee to the seven-member supreme court.

Gov. Baker appointed Serge Georges Jr. to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on November 17, 2020. Georges succeeded Associate Justice Kimberly S. Budd, who was elevated to the position of Chief Justice with the court on October 28, 2020. Georges was Gov. Baker's ninth nominee to the seven-member supreme court.[2]

At the time of the appointment under Massachusetts law, each justice was appointed by the governor and approved by the Massachusetts Governor's Council. Justices on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court would hold tenured appointments until they reach 70 years old, the age of mandatory retirement.[3][4][5]

## Contents

* 1 The appointee
* 1.1 Chief justice
* 1.2 Associate justice
* 2 The selection process
* 2.1 Selection of the chief justice
* 2.2 Governor's Council
* 3 Media coverage
* 4 Makeup of the court
* 5 About Chief Justice Gants
* 6 Other state supreme court appointments in 2020
* 7 See also
* 8 External links
* 9 Footnotes

## The appointee[edit]

### Chief justice[edit]

See also: Kimberly S. Budd

On October 28, 2020, Gov. Charlie Baker (R) announced the nomination of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Kimberly S. Budd to replace Gants as the state supreme court's chief justice.[6]

Budd joined the court as an associate justice in 2016. She was nominated to the court by Gov. Charlie Baker (R) and confirmed by the Governor's Council. Budd was an associate justice for the Superior Court in Massachusetts from 2009 to 2016. For more on Budd's career, click here.

Budd earned an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in 1988. She earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991. Budd's career experience includes working as a law clerk to Chief Justice Joseph P. Warner of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, as an associate with Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C., as an assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, as a university attorney with the general counsel's office of Harvard University, and as a director of the community values program with Harvard Business School.[7]

### Associate justice[edit]

See also: Serge Georges Jr.

On November 17, 2020, Gov. Charlie Baker (R) announced the nomination of Boston Municipal Courts, Roxbury Division judge Serge Georges Jr. to replace Kimberly S. Budd as an associate justice with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.[2]

Georges joined the Boston Municipal Courts, Roxbury Division in 2013. He was nominated to the court by Gov. Deval Patrick (D) and confirmed by the Governor's Council. For more on Georges' career, click here.[8]

Georges earned an undergraduate degree from Boston College in 1992. He earned a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 1996.[8]

## The selection process[edit]

See also: Judicial selection in Massachusetts

At the time of the appointment, the seven justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court were appointed by the governor and approved by the governor's council. Justices would hold tenured appointments until they reach 70 years old, the age of mandatory retirement.[3][4][5]

### Selection of the chief justice[edit]

The chief justice was also appointed by the governor with council approval, serving until age 70 as well.[5]

### Governor's Council[edit]

At the time of the appointment, the Governor's Council, also referred to as the Executive Council, was a governmental body that was constitutionally authorized to approve judicial appointments. The council consisted of eight members who were elected every two years from each of the eight council districts.[9]

The Governor's Council would hold hearings and approve the governor's nominations to the appellate, district, probate, juvenile, superior and supreme courts. The council would hold hearings and approve nominations for the industrial accident and parole boards, in addition to approving appointments for notary publics and justices of the peace. The council was responsible for approving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' financial warrants. Any time the governor issued a pardon or commuted a sentence, the council had to vote to approve or deny his decision.[9]

## Media coverage[edit]

This section includes excerpts from articles about Gants' death, the appointment process, and the nomination of Associate Justice Kimberly S. Budd.

* Matt Stout and Shirley Leung, The Boston Globe (November 17, 2020): "Governor Charlie Baker on Tuesday nominated Boston Municipal Court Judge Serge Georges Jr. to the Supreme Judicial Court, the latest in a series of historic picks that aim to bring unprecedented diversity to the high court. ...

The announcement Tuesday follows Baker’s selection of Kimberly S. Budd to be the court’s first Black female chief justice and Dalila Argaez Wendlandt to be the court’s first Latina justice. The three picks, if confirmed by the Governor’s Council, would guarantee the SJC has three jurists of color for the first time in its 328-year history.

“When you have diversity amongst genders and races and cultures, including experience, it’s going to lead to better decision-making,” said Georges, who was born in New York City, lived for four years in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, and grew up in Dorchester, sharing a rented two-bedroom apartment with his two older sisters and his parents, both Haitian immigrants."[10]

* Matt Stout, The Boston Globe (October 28, 2020): "Governor Charlie Baker on Wednesday nominated Kimberly S. Budd to be chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, putting her in line to become the first Black woman to lead the state’s highest court in its 328-year history. ...

Budd called Gants a mentor and a friend and the honor to be nominated “unquestionably bittersweet.” She also indicated she’s still consuming both the logistical and symbolic weight the role would bring.

No woman of color has ever been chief justice in the history of the SJC — the oldest continuous sitting appellate court in the Western hemisphere — and she would be just the second Black chief justice after Ireland (2010-2014) and the second woman to hold the role, following Margaret H. Marshall (1999-2010).

Budd, who celebrated her 54th birthday Friday, would also be the state’s youngest chief justice in more than a century. She wouldn’t face mandatory retirement age until October 2036."[11]

* Stephanie Barry, MassLive (September 21, 2020): "The Western Massachusetts governor’s councilor has coined a phrase to urge regional parity on the Supreme Judicial Court, and Gov. Charlie Baker has something in common with John Hancock.

“413 on the SJC,” quipped Mary Hurley, a retired district court judge and member of the Massachusetts Governor’s Council, which confirms judicial nominations across the commonwealth.

Hurley joins a chorus of local attorneys and retired judges who have become weary of the Greater Boston-centric composition of the state’s highest court. They urge Baker to consider candidates from the western part of the state in the face of two openings on the seven-member court: a retiring associate justice plus late Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants, who died Sept. 14 after undergoing surgery.

Hurley noted that of 10 applicants vying to replace retiring Associate Justice Barbara A. Lenk, not one was from western Massachusetts. ...

Retired Supreme Judicial Court Justice John Greaney, of Westfield, served on the high court for 20 years. He echoed the need for representation from this region. Greaney also noted that Baker will be the first since Hancock to appoint every single member of the court.

“Baker has the opportunity to be the first governor after John Hancock to appoint all seven … after Hancock appointed then five in 1781,” Greaney said. ...

Greaney says it is also useful for regional members of the SJC to act as civic ambassadors on behalf of the court.

“A lot of people don’t even know what the SJC does,” he said.

Local attorney David P. Hoose, president of Hampden County Lawyers for Justice, said practicing lawyers from this region have also tired of the lopsided geographic composition of the court’s justices.

“We live in the state of Massachusetts, not the state of Boston. Frankly, it’s insulting to assume that people who choose to live and practice in this part of the state are not of the quality to serve on the Supreme Judicial Court,” Hoose said.[12]

* Stephanie Murray, POLITICO, (September 18, 2020): "Gov. Charlie Baker's influence in Massachusetts government will become even broader by the end of the year. After the unexpected death of Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants, it's likely that Baker will soon be in a position to select the entire bench of the Supreme Judicial Court.

The last governor to appoint the entire court was John Hancock, according to the Boston Globe, who was the first and third governor of the Bay State.

Baker has already named five justices to the seven-member court during his time as governor. Baker will fill Gants' seat on the court, and another spot on the bench when Justice Barbara Lenk retires later this year. The Governor's Council approves Baker's appointments to the court.

Naming the entire SJC would be a long-lasting example of Baker's power as governor, as justices are not required to retire until they are 70. Baker's youngest appointment, Justice Kimberly Budd, will be 70 in 2036."[13]

* Deborah Becker, WBUR News (September 16, 2020): "With the death of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants, Gov. Charlie Baker will do what none of his most recent predecessors have done.

He'll be the first governor in recent memory to appoint all seven state supreme court justices.

Baker has already appointed five justices, all of whom were elevated to the high court in the last four years. And he was scheduled to replace Justice Barbara Lenk, who will reach the mandatory retirement age and leave the bench in December. With a nomination for a new justice after the loss of Gants, all of the court's members will have been named by Baker."[14]

## Makeup of the court[edit]

See also: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Following Gants' death, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court included the following members:

■ Barbara Lenk |  | Appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick (D) in 2011

|
|

■ Frank M. Gaziano |  | Appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker (R) in 2016
■ David A. Lowy |  | Appointed by Gov. Baker (R) in 2016
■ Kimberly S. Budd |  | Appointed by Gov. Baker (R) in 2016
■ Elspeth Cypher |  | Appointed by Gov. Baker (R) in 2017
■ Scott Kafker |  | Appointed by Gov. Baker (R) in 2017

## About Chief Justice Gants[edit]

See also: Ralph D. Gants

Chief Justice Ralph Gants was born in New Rochelle, New York in 1954. He earned a bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from Harvard College in 1976. He earned a diploma in criminology at Cambridge University in England. He earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1980. Gants served as a note editor with the Harvard Law Review.[7]

Gants' career experience included working as a law clerk with U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York judge Eugene Nickerson, as a special assistant to FBI Director William Webster, as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts, and as a lawyer and partner with the law firm Palmer & Dodge LLP. Gants served as a judge with the Massachusetts Superior Courts from 1997 to 2009. He served as a justice with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 2009 until 2014. He was appointed as Chief Justice of the court in 2014 and served until his death in 2020.[1][7]

## Other state supreme court appointments in 2020[edit]

See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2020

The following table lists vacancies to state supreme courts that opened in 2020. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.

Click here for vacancies that opened in 2021.

2020 judicial vacancies filled by appointment

Court  | Date of Vacancy  | Justice  | Reason  | Date Vacancy Filled  | Successor
Washington Supreme Court | January 5, 2020  | Mary Fairhurst | Retirement  | December 4, 2019  | Raquel Montoya-Lewis
Maine Supreme Judicial Court | January 2020  | Donald Alexander | Retirement  | January 6, 2020  | Andrew Horton
Illinois Supreme Court | February 2020  | Robert Thomas | Retirement  | March 1, 2020  | Michael J. Burke
Georgia Supreme Court | March 1, 2020  | Robert Benham | Retirement  | March 27, 2020  | Carla W. McMillian
Iowa Supreme Court | March 13, 2020  | David Wiggins | Retirement  | April 3, 2020  | Matthew McDermott
Washington Supreme Court | March 2020  | Charles Wiggins | Retirement  | April 13, 2020  | G. Helen Whitener
Maine Supreme Judicial Court | April 14, 2020  | Leigh Saufley | Retirement  | May 10, 2021  | Valerie Stanfill
Connecticut Supreme Court | May 27, 2020  | Richard Palmer | Retirement  | July 20, 2020  | Christine E. Keller
Alaska Supreme Court | June 1, 2020  | Craig Stowers | Retirement  | July 1, 2020  | Dario Borghesan
Hawaii Supreme Court | June 30, 2020  | Richard W. Pollack | Retirement  | November 19, 2020  | Todd Eddins
Rhode Island Supreme Court | June 30, 2020  | Gilbert Indeglia | Retirement  | December 8, 2020  | Erin Lynch Prata
Minnesota Supreme Court | July 31, 2020  | David Lillehaug | Retirement  | May 15, 2020  | Gordon Moore
California Supreme Court | August 31, 2020  | Ming Chin | Retirement  | November 10, 2020  | Martin Jenkins
New Jersey Supreme Court | August 31, 2020  | Walter F. Timpone | Retirement  | June 5, 2020  | Fabiana Pierre-Louis
Texas Supreme Court | August 31, 2020  | Paul Green | Retirement  | October 15, 2020  | Rebecca Huddle
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court | September 14, 2020  | Ralph D. Gants | Death  | November 18, 2020  | Kimberly S. Budd
Kansas Supreme Court | September 18, 2020  | Carol Beier | Retirement  | November 30, 2020  | Melissa Standridge
Georgia Supreme Court | November 18, 2020  | Keith Blackwell | Retirement  | December 1, 2020  | Shawn Ellen LaGrua
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court | December 1, 2020  | Barbara Lenk | Retirement  | November 25, 2020  | Dalila Wendlandt
New Mexico Supreme Court | December 1, 2020  | Judith Nakamura | Retirement  | December 19, 2020  | Julie Vargas
Illinois Supreme Court | December 7, 2020  | Thomas Kilbride | Was not retained  | December 8, 2020  | Robert Carter
Rhode Island Supreme Court | December 31, 2020  | Francis Flaherty | Retirement  | December 8, 2020  | Melissa Long
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals | December 31, 2020  | Michael Keasler | Retirement  | December 21, 2020  | Jesse McClure

## See also[edit]

Massachusetts | Judicial Selection | More Courts

|
|

Courts in Massachusetts Massachusetts Appeals Court Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court |  Elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 Gubernatorial appointments Judicial selection in Massachusetts |  Federal courts State courts Local courts

## External links[edit]

| Suggest a link

|

* Search Google News for this topic
* Massachusetts Court System, "Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts"

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Boston Globe, "SJC Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants, a fearless advocate for racial justice, dies at 65," September 14, 2020
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Office of Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, "Press Release Governor Baker Nominates Judge Serge Georges Jr. to the Supreme Judicial Court," November 17, 2020
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Massachusetts Court System, "About the Supreme Judicial Court," accessed January 29, 2015
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 American Bar Association, "Fact sheet on judicial selection methods in the states," accessed August 25, 2014
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Massachusetts," archived October 2, 2014
6. ↑ Office of the Governor Charlie Baker and the Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, "Press Release Governor Baker Nominates Justice Kimberly Budd to Become Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court," October 28, 2020
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Mass Live.com, "Kimberly Budd, daughter of Springfield native and former U.S. attorney Wayne Budd, nominated for judgeship," July 8, 2009 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; name "bio" defined multiple times with different content
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 www.Mass.gov, "Press Release: Governor Patrick Announces Boston Municipal Court and District Court Nominations," September 25, 2013
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Official website of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Governor's Council," accessed November 18, 2020
10. ↑ The Boston Globe, "Governor nominates Serge Georges Jr. to Supreme Judicial Court," November 17, 2020
11. ↑ The Boston Globe, "Baker nominates Kimberly Budd as chief justice," October 28, 2020
12. ↑ MassLive, "Retired SJC judge, governor’s councilor urge regional parity on state’s highest court," September 21, 2020
13. ↑ POLITICO, "Baker’s imprint on the judiciary — jury trials to resume — Students waiting on laptops in Boston," September 18, 2020
14. ↑ WBUR News, "With The Loss Of Gants, Baker Has A Historic Opportunity At The High Court," September 16, 2020

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