Governor Patrick has an opportunity to leave a huge mark on the Massachusetts Judiciary due to the large number of recently announced judicial openings. The recent announcement of Associate Justice Judith Cowin’s retirement adds to the list of appointments for the governor, a list that includes positions on the Supreme Judicial Court, Superior Court, and the district courts.
With the prospect of all these new appointments, the role of the Governor’s Council has become the topic of much debate. The Boston Globe and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (subscription necessary) both ran opinion pieces focusing on recent contentious judicial nominating hearings and questioning the need for the Governor’s Council.
Senator Brian Joyce has even introduced legislation to abolish the Governor’s Council all together. Abolishing the Council isn’t as straightforward as getting the Legislature to support the bill, it would actually require an amendment to the state Constitution. Here’s a little background on the judicial nominating process.
The current judicial nominating system begins with a confidential application process reviewed by the 21 member Judicial Nominating Committee (“JNC”). The JNC recommends several candidates for judicial vacancies to the governor. The governor will then forward his one nomination on to the Governor’s Council. The Governor’s Council is a constitutionally required body established in 1624. However, the question posed by the aforementioned op-ed pieces is this: Is the extra layer of scrutiny even necessary?
The BBA is fortunate enough to have had several volunteer leaders go on to be nominated for judicial posts throughout Massachusetts. The BBA is interested in having competent and qualified judicial candidates serve as judges and we hope that good candidates will not be scared off by the negative overtones of recent hearings.
The BBA is thrilled that former BBA President Ned Leibensperger has been confirmed to the position of Associate Justice of the Superior Court. Despite the criticism of the process, it is still encouraging to see such worthy candidates promoted to the bench.
-Kathleen Joyce
Government Relations Director
Boston Bar Association
