Supreme Judicial Court

Supreme Judicial Court Justice Elspeth Cypher plans to step down in January, giving Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey a chance to appoint someone to the state’s highest court early in her first term. The SJC announced Monday that Cypher, who turned 64 in February, will retire from the court on Jan. 12, 2024 after a nearly seven-year tenure. A court spokesperson…

A Connecticut woman who says she’s descended from enslaved people portrayed in widely-published, historical photos owned by Harvard can sue the Ivy League university for emotional distress, Massachusetts’ highest court ruled Thursday. The state’s Supreme Judicial Court partly vacated a lower court ruling that dismissed a complaint from Tamara Lanier over photos she says depict her enslaved ancestors. The...

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has tossed the ballot question involving the status and benefits for app-based drivers off the November ballot, upending an expensive campaign with a ruling that the question contains “at least two substantively distinct policy decisions.” Writing for the court, Justice Scott Kafker said that most parts of the proposed ballot question (there are technically two…

The actions of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission almost a decade ago could be put under a new microscope after the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday that a lower court should look more closely at the “highly unusual character of the commission’s actions” related to the award of a casino license to Wynn Resorts and the casino company’s purchase of...