The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the United States commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is one of the most respected state supreme courts in the nation and has traditionally issued progressive and controversial rulings.

History

The court was established in 1692 as the "Superior Court of Judicature". It is the oldest appellate court in continuous existence in the Western Hemisphere. Its name was changed to the Supreme Judicial Court after the adoption of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780. The SJC operates under the oldest, still functioning written constitution in the world.

Composition

The Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts with the consent of the Executive Council . The Justices hold office until the mandatory retirement age of seventy, like all other Massachusetts judges.

The currently serving justices are:

• Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall
• Justice John M. Greaney
• Justice Roderick L. Ireland
• Justice Francis X. Spina
• Justice Judith A. Cowin
• Justice Martha B. Sosman
• Justice Robert J. Cordy

Functions

The seven Justices hear appeals on a broad range of criminal and civil cases between the months of September and May.

Single Justice sessions are held each week throughout the year for certain motions pertaining to cases on trial or on appeal, bail reviews, bar discipline proceedings, petitions for admission to the bar, and a variety of other statutory proceedings. The Associate Justices sit as Single Justices each month on a rotation schedule.

The full bench renders approximately 200 written decisions each year; the single justices decide a total of approximately 600 cases annually.

In addition to its appellate functions, the SJC is responsible for the general superintendence of the judiciary and of the bar, the creation or approval of rules for the operations of all the state courts, and in certain instances, providing advisory opinions, upon request, to the Governor and state legislature on various legal issues.

The SJC also has oversight responsibility in varying degrees, according to statutes, with several affiliated agencies of the judicial branch, including the Board of Bar Overseers , the Board of Bar Examiners , the Clients' Security Board , the Commission on Judicial Conduct , the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation , the Massachusetts Mental Health Legal Advisors’ Committee , and Correctional Legal Services, Inc .

The SJC is currently located on the 3rd Floor of One Beacon Street , Boston, Massachusetts 02108.

Landmark Cases

• Goodridge et al. v. Department of Public Health (2003) - The Court ruled that the denial of same-sex marriage licenses couples violated the Massachusetts Constitution.

• Memoirs v. Massachusetts (1966) - The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Supreme Judicial Court had erred in finding that the Attorney General of Massachusetts could initiate legal proceedings against John Cleland's book Fanny Hill, as the book could not be considered obscene since it had some redeeming value.

• Roberts v. Boston (1850) - The Court established the "separate but equal" doctrine that would later be used in Plessy v. Ferguson by maintaining that the law gave school boards complete authority in assigning students to schools and that they could do so along racial lines if they deemed it appropriate.

• Commonwealth v. Jennison (1783) - The Court declared slavery unconstitutional in the state of Massachusetts by allowing slaves to sue their masters for freedom.

• Rex v. Wemms, et al. (1770) - Six soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre were found not guilty, and two more — the only two proven to have fired — were found guilty of manslaughter.

• Rex v. Preston (1770) - Captain Thomas Preston, the Officer of the Day during the Boston Massacre, was acquitted when the jury was unable to determine whether he had ordered the troops to fire. The defense counsel in the case was a young attorney named John Adams, later the second President of the United States.

External Links

• Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
• List of Chief Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court

Resources

• About the Supreme Court
• Supreme Judicial Court Historical Society
• Gay-Marriage Decision: Just the Beginning of the Debate
• Memoirs v. Massachusetts
• Simpson's Contemporary Quotations