STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick Ireland plans to step down in July, giving Gov. Deval Patrick several months to secure a successor atop the high court before the governor leaves office at the end of the year.
Ireland is set to turn 70 – the mandatory retirement age for judges – on Dec. 3. He plans to step down on July 25, according to a letter from Ireland to Patrick that was released on Monday.
“As you know, I am fast approaching mandatory retirement and will reach age 70 before the end of this year,” Ireland wrote. “Understanding the critical work of my Court and wishing to facilitate a smooth transition for my successor, I have decided to step down before the new term begins in September.”
A Springfield native, Ireland began his legal career in 1969 and has been a jurist for nearly 37 years, beginning on the Juvenile Court in 1977. Ireland was appointed to the state’s highest court by Gov. William Weld in 1997, and appointed chief justice by Gov. Patrick in 2010.
“One of the assignments of the chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, as you know, is to be the leader of the third branch of government. And that means managing the courts, encouraging and strengthening the courts, and I think he has a deep record there,” Patrick told reporters on his way into a meeting with legislative leadership Monday. “I think the morale in the court system and the sense by litigants that they have been heard and fairly treated is very, very strong right now, and I think that’s about Justice Ireland.”
Stepping down over the summer will provide Patrick with additional time to nominate a new chief justice, who would then go before the eight-member elected Governor’s Council for a confirmation hearing and a vote.
In picking a new chief justice and getting the nominee through the council, Patrick said he’s not taking anything for granted. The chief justice “in addition to being a strong legal intellect needs to be a person who can administer the third branch of government,” Patrick said after meeting with legislative leaders.
Patrick said he’s going to enact the same process he used when Ireland was tapped to replace Margaret Marshall in 2010.
A “small committee” made up of the Judicial Nominating Committee, Patrick’s chief legal counsel Kate Cook, and former JNC chair Lisa Goodheart will guide the nomination process, Patrick said.
The governor will ask all the members of the JNC to submit candidates “and we’ll try to do this on an expedited basis,” Patrick said.
When asked if he’d pick from the existing bench or look beyond the current crop of judges to fill the slot, Patrick said there are “no limits” to his choice.
“I want to see what sort of pool we have and I’ll pick the very best person,” Patrick said.
Martin Healey, the chief operating officer and legal counsel to the Massachusetts Bar Association, said that regardless of whether Patrick promotes an associate justice to chief or picks from outside the court he will have had a rare opportunity in his two terms to shape the direction of the SJC.
“No other Massachusetts governor has had the opportunity to leave such an indelible imprint on the judicial branch’s highest court,” Healey said.
Patrick has already appointed four of the court’s seven justices, including Justices Ralph Gants, Barbara Lenk, Margot Botsford, and Fernande Duffly.
Since Patrick promoted Ireland, Healey credited the chief justice with partnering with House Speaker Robert DeLeo to enact court reforms that he said may not have happened under another chief, for forging relationships with lawmakers, and for expanding the use of specialty courts like drug and veterans courts.
Healey said Gants is considered by some within the bar as the “frontrunner” to become chief, though he added that he would not discount the chances of Patrick promoting Duffly, who is the first Asian-American on the highest court, or Lenk, the first openly gay member of the SJC.
There is speculation in some legal circles that former interim US Sen. Mo Cowan could be picked for the court, Healey said.
“The governor obviously doesn’t want a court without an African American presence on it and in this day and age I don’t think this governor would stand for that, or the legal community, and you may see him pick someone from the African-American community as the next chief,” Healey said, predicting that a Cowan selection would be welcomed by the other branches of government and respected within the legal community.
