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Gants sworn in as SJC chief justice

Thursday, Jul. 31, 2014
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Hon. Ralph D. Gants was sworn in as chief justice of the SJC on July 28. Photograph courtesy of the SJC

Justice Ralph D. Gants became the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's 37th chief justice during a swearing-in ceremony held on July 28 in the Great Hall of the John Adams Courthouse before a crowd of several hundred friends, family and colleagues.

SJC Associate Justice Margot Botsford served as Mistress of Ceremonies and the Hon. Dina E. Fine, first justice of the Housing Court, Western Division, provided remarks. Gov. Deval L. Patrick led the official swearing in portion of the ceremony.

Gants, the youngest jurist to sit on the SJC, has held two prior judicial positions. Gov. William F. Weld first appointed Gants as an associate justice of the Superior Court in 1997. In 2009, Patrick appointed Gants to the Supreme Judicial Court as an associate justice. Gants has served as co-chair of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission since 2010 and has served as the justice member of the Supreme Judicial Court's Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services since 2011. He chaired the Standing Committee that revised the Model Jury Instructions on Homicide in 2013.

During his remarks, Gants noted that six of the seven trial court departments in Massachusetts will have new chief justices and stressed how the court system must serve as a "problem-solver."

Gants succeeds Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland, who served as chief justice since 2010. Ireland, the first African American to serve on the SJC, officially retired on July 25.