In response to the upcoming retirement of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justices Francis Spina, Robert Cordy and Fernande Duffly, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced a Supreme Judicial Court Nominating Commission Wednesday.
According to a Wednesday press release, the committee will be comprised of 12 members, including the governor’s chief legal counsel, the chair and vice chairs of the governor’s judicial nominating commission and a former chief justice of the court.
“We look forward to ensuring the Supreme Judicial Court will continue to fulfill its mission through the consideration of a diverse and broad set of candidates from across Massachusetts who bring outstanding intellectual and legal skills, strong work ethic and a measured temperament and sense of justice to the Commonwealth’s highest court,” Baker said in the release.
In the release, Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito thanked the retiring justices.
“Justices Cordy, Spina and Duffly have served the Commonwealth, our citizens and the judicial system at the highest levels of the legal profession throughout their tenures, and we wish them well,” Polito said in the release. “We are committed to finding outstanding candidates to fill these vacancies from across the Commonwealth.”
Richard Daynard, a professor of law at Northeastern University, said he does not believe the appointment of new justices will cause any change in the court.
“I don’t think you’ll see a big switch in the type of decisions that the Supreme Judicial Court will be coming up with,” Daynard said. “My impression is that Charlie Baker is not very ideological. He’s obviously not going to appoint somebody who’s pretty middle of the road.”
With so many justices’ impending resignations, Daynard said he is cautious of whether Baker’s appointees will be able to tackle controversial social and moral issues in the upcoming years.
“The most famous decision of the SJC in the last 15 years was the Goodridge Decision,” Daynard said. “The question is, would a court of Charlie Baker appointees be open to exercise the kind of courage Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall did in that case?”
Spina, who announced his retirement Friday, reflected on his past 23 years of service in a Friday press release, which detailed his experiences as a Supreme Court justice.
“It has been a privilege and an honor to serve the people of the Commonwealth at this level,” Spina said in the release. “I have been blessed to work with so many dedicated employees in the judicial branch whose commitment to justice for all has been a daily inspiration for the past twenty-three years. I will miss working with my wonderful colleagues and fellow employees at the Supreme Judicial Court.”
Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants described Spina as “a great friend and colleague who will be sorely missed.”
“The justices of this Court call Justice Spina ‘Saint Francis’ for good reason,” Gants said in a Friday release. “Whenever an especially difficult opinion needs to be written, or a delicate administrative matter needs to be addressed, Justice Spina always volunteers, and then makes the problem seem easily solved with his superb intellect, careful craftsmanship, and gentle manner.”
Gants worked with Cordy as a prosecutor in 1983 and commented on their time as colleagues in a Feb. 3 press release.
“[Justice Cordy] leaves an enduring legacy as a justice of this Court, not only because of the over 360 carefully crafted and reasoned majority opinions he has authored so far, but also because of the countless unseen contributions he has made to maintain the excellence of this Court,” Gants said in the release. “His energy and productivity is truly the stuff of legend.”
Duffly also announced her retirement Wednesday from the Supreme Court, citing her husband’s health as the primary reason.
“I had planned to leave the bench after serving for 25 years as a judge in 2017,” Duffly said in a Wednesday press release. “When my husband’s recent surgery required me to devote more of my time to helping him fully recover, I moved up my retirement date.”
Several residents expressed faith in Baker to make the right decision regarding new justices.
Ngoc Ho, 27 of Allston, expressed her complete trust and support of Baker and his decision.
“I am a proud advocate of Gov. Baker, as he is the man behind many of our improvements in 2015,” she said. “I have complete trust in him and confidence in his ability to appoint new justices.”
Michelle McCann, 39, of Back Bay, said she would prefer the justices to be elected instead of appointed, but she thinks Baker will make a good decision.
“In general, you would want it to be an elected office, but I don’t think every office can be elected either,” she said. “Democracy is great, but it’s not always practical. He gets enough references and enough reason to decide one way or another.”
Hannah Brown, 36, of Dorchester, said it will be difficult to appoint three new justices, but she trusts Baker to make a good decision.
“I think he has a really big job to do with this,” she said. “It’s a big thing to appoint three people at once. But I also trust that he’ll put a lot of consideration into this and make a good decision. I mean, he’s the governor for a reason, so I trust his judgment.”