Last week, Massachusetts made history when Governor Baker nominated a black female justice as the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. Governor Baker inspiringly nominated Justice Kimberly S. Budd to become Massachusetts’ first black female chief justice, filling the vacancy left by Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants, who passed away in September. Governor Baker also plans to nominate two more associate justices before the end of the year to fill Budd’s current seat and the seat held by a justice who is retiring.
Before Chief Justice Gants unexpectedly passed away, he committed “to work to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in the Massachusetts criminal justice system…” and to take “action to end (racial and ethnic disparities).” Even though he never got the opportunity to follow through on his work to study and change the systemic racism that exists here, Chief Justice Budd is likely to make former Chief Justice Gants’ aspirations a reality.
We have appeared before Justice Budd in the past and are excited to see her lead our Commonwealth into the future.
At DILLER LAW, we believe that representation in courts matter. The makeup of the court should reflect the makeup of our State.