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Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016
The Honorable Roderick L. Ireland portrait unveiled at Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
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Photo Credit: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Retired SJC Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland poses with his official portrait.

The portrait of the Honorable Roderick L. Ireland, who served as the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 2010-2014 and Associate Justice from 1997-2010, was presented to the Supreme Judicial Court on Sept. 29 at the John Adams Courthouse.

Following the unveiling of the portrait, the Honorable Roderick L. Ireland delivered remarks in the Seven Justice Courtroom. "I knew that my success or failure was bigger than Rick Ireland - in the sense that it was not just personal to me - it was bigger because, in my mind, I represented an entire race every day," he said. "History will decide how I actually did. But I did my best and I hope that over the course of my 37-year career I helped, at least in a small way, to see that justice was done here in the commonwealth.

I hope that I helped to improve the quality of the Massachusetts Court System; that I helped improve relations with the other two branches of government; and that I represented the court system in a dignified and thoughtful way," he continued. "Through it all, I always had a simple goal -- to do justice."