Gov. Charlie Baker Tuesday nominated three sitting jurists to the Supreme Judicial Court, replacing judges who will soon be retiring from Massachusetts highest tribunal.
Baker nominated David Lowy, Kimberly Budd and Frank Gaziano, all currently Superior Court judges.
The nominees will be heard by the Governor's Council, the eight-member, elected body dating from the colonial era that vets judicial appointments. A majority of Governor's Councilors must approve judges before they can take their seats.
Bakers' trio were previously approved by the Governor's Council for their current seats.
If the nominees pass muster this time, the trio will take over for three departing justices when the court resumes session this fall. Associate Justice Fernande Duffly plans to retire in July, with fellow Associate Justices Francis Spina and Robert Cordy following in August.
This slate of three nominees won't be all for Baker's team of judicial recruiters. Two other associate justices, Margot Botsford and Geraldine Hines, will both turn 70 next year, opening up at least two more slots for Baker to fill before the expiration of his first term in office.
By the end of that first term, Baker will have selected five of the seven members of the SJC, reshaping the bench for the foreseeable future.
Lowy currently serves on the Essex Superior Court. He worked alongside Baker in the administration of Gov. William Weld in the 1990s. Budd hails from Springfield and was named to that city's branch of the Superior Court by former Gov. Deval Patrick. Gaziano was put on the Superior bench by former Gov. Mitt Romney and previously served as a prosecutor.
Faced with the slew of retirements, Baker established a special 12-member Supreme Judicial Court Nominating Commission to aid the existing panel to vest all judicial nominees in February. The panel is co-chaired by Lon Povich, Baker's legal counsel, and Paul Danicer, executive vice president and legal counsel for EMC. The team also includes Boston Bar Association president Lisa Arrowood, Goodwin Procter partner Roberto Braceras and former SJC Chief Justice Roderick Ireland.
Patrick dramatically reshaped and diversified the SJC himself during his time in office, naming the first Asian-American justice (Duffly) the first openly gay justice (Associate Justice Barbara Lenk), the first black woman (Hines), multiple women, (Duffly, Lenk, Botsford), the first black Chief Justice (Ireland) and the first Jewish court leader in current Chief Justice Ralph Gants.
With the coming retirements, Patrick's legacy of appointments to the bench will be partially undone. Only Gants and Lenk will remain on the bench from the eight-year Patrick era.
