Gov’s council starts work on Georges SJC nom
The Governor’s Council could cap a year defined by the coronavirus pandemic, racial strife, social injustice and a “great loss” on the state’s high court with “hope and the promise of possibility” by confirming Boston Municipal Court Judge Serge Georges Jr., former U.S. Sen. Mo Cowan said.
“What a wonderful way to conclude this challenging year by offering hope and the promise of possibility — by giving an audience to a tremendous leader, jurist and citizen,” Cowan said on Wednesday during the first day of hearings as the Governor’s Council takes up Georges’ nomination.
Cowan — former Gov. Deval Patrick legal counsel and onetime senator — was one of several legal giants to testify in favor of Georges’ appointment to the Supreme Judicial Court.
If approved, Georges would cap a reshaping and diversification of the court prompted by the sudden death of former Chief Justice Ralph Gants to a heart attack in September.
The council last month unanimously confirmed SJC Justice Kimberly Budd to serve as the court’s new chief justice and confirmed another Baker nominee, Dalila Argaez Wendlandt, to serve as an associate justice, replacing retiring Justice Barbara Lenk.
Budd will be the first black woman to lead the high court and Wendlandt is its the first Latina.
Councilors will vote on Georges’ nomination next Wednesday. Several councilors on Wednesday weighed whether Georges has sufficient experience after attorney Anne Stevenson of Salem sent in a letter opposing the judge’s appointment calling out his “short time on the bench.”
Suffolk University Law School Dean Andrew Perlman, speaking in favor of Georges’ nomination, said the judge has “a remarkable and unusual capacity to develop expertise across a wide range of legal subjects” — something he has seen firsthand in Georges’ 20 years serving as an adjunct professor.
Gov. Charlie Baker, who nominated Georges last month, said that while the 50year-old judge is young, he has “packed an enormous amount of professional experience into his career.”
Baker said an “astonishingly small” group of district court judges have made it onto the bench in the high court’s history. He said the number could be fewer than five — a number he finds “troubling.”
“This is a chance to put somebody who has presided over a drug court, who’s been deeply involved in the busiest district court in the Commonwealth of Mass. in a position where he can engage his colleagues in discussions about how their decisions affect the actual practice and delivery of justice every single day in the working courts across the commonwealth based on his own personal and professional experience,” Baker said.