GOV. MAURA HEALEY nominated Gabrielle Wolohojian, a respected Appeals Court judge and her former domestic partner, for a vacant position on the Supreme Judicial Court.
The governor on Wednesday said no one was more qualified than Wolohojian to serve on the state’s highest court and their long-term relationship should not bar Wolohojian from being nominated for the position. She also said her past relationship with Wolohojian would not create the sort of conflict that could force the judge to recuse herself from cases involving the executive branch, which includes the governor’s office.
The governor said the Supreme Judicial Nominating Commission unanimously recommended Wolohojian’s appointment based on her credentials, which include 16 years on the state’s Appeals Court and degrees from Rutgers University, the University of Oxford, and Columbia Law School, where she was editor of the school’s law review. She is also considered an accomplished violinist.
Healey declined to say whether Wolohojian’s name was the only candidate forwarded to her by the commission. She said the appointment was based on Wolohojian’s track record as a judge as well as her personal qualities.
“I don’t want the fact that she had a personal relationship with me to deprive the Commonwealth of a person who’s most qualified for the position,” Healey said. “Of course, I had a personal relationship with Judge Wolohojian for many years, so I also happen to know something about her character and integrity.”
Amy Carnevale, the chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party, took a very different position.
“It is highly inappropriate for the governor to nominate to Massachusetts’ highest court an individual with whom she had a long-term romantic relationship in the past,” Carnevale said in a statement. “This nomination clearly demonstrates a lack of accountability inherent in one-party rule. We urge the governor to immediately withdraw her nominee and, if not withdrawn, we urge the Governor’s Council to reject this nominee.”
If approved by the independently elected Governor’s Council, which vets the governor’s judicial nominees, Wolohojian would fill the vacancy created by the departure of David Lowy, who stepped down earlier this month to become general counsel at the University of Massachusetts. Wolohojian is 63 and a granddaughter of Armenian immigrants.
Healey told Boston Magazine in 2015 that she and Wolohojian met when they both worked at the law firm Hale & Dorr, now known as WilmerHale. Healey told the magazine they had been together for eight years at that point.
After leaving the law firm, Wolohojian briefly worked as an independent counsel on the Whitewater investigation of the Clinton White House.
Before being elected governor in 2022, Healey had moved from the address in Charlestown she once shared with Wolohojian. She now lives in Arlington at the home of her new partner, Joanna Lydgate. Lydgate was a policy analyst on Healey’s 2014 campaign for attorney general and then worked for Healey in the attorney general’s office.
A New York native, Wolohojian was appointed to the Appeals Court by Gov. Deval Patrick, and has authored 900 decisions while sitting on 2,700 appeals since 2008.
Geraldine Hines, a retired SJC justice and former member of the Appeals Court, had praise for Wolohojian in a statement provided by Healey’s office.
“This is a difficult job that demands intellectual vigor, respect for the rule of law, an unwavering commitment to equal justice under the law, and an impeccable work ethic,” she said. “From our time together on the Appeals Court and from my conversations with colleagues who have continued to serve on the court, I can say that Justice Wolohojian is richly blessed with these qualifications, as exemplified in her record of achievement as a lawyer and jurist.”
Healey’s first Supreme Judicial Court pick, Elizabeth “Bessie” Dewar, who as state solicitor who worked with Healey in the attorney general’s office, was nominated in early December and approved by the Governor’s Council on January 10.
This post has been updated.
