Community reacts to judge’s retirement

By Hannah Clay Wareham for Bay Windows - Published Jul 27, 2010
For me, it was stunning because I had never stopped to think, ’Do I want to get married?’ Just because it was not a possibility," [MassEquality Interim Director Paula Herrington] said. "We woke up to a whole new world."

Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall made first historic ruling allowing legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Of the more than three hundred opinions authored by Chief Justice Margaret Marshall during her tenure as the second woman appointed to the Supreme Judicial Court, one must be particularly celebrated on the eve of her retirement.

"The Massachusetts Constitution affirms the dignity and equality of all individuals," she wrote in 2003. "It forbids the creation of second-class citizens."

Marshall authored the court’s majority decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that allowed legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts seven years ago. The ruling was the first of its kind in the nation, and its effects are still resounding throughout the country as other states debate marriage equality.

"We’re saddened to see the end of the career of a distinguished jurist," read a statement from Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), whose Mary Bonauto advocated on behalf of the plaintiffs in Goodridge. "Chief Justice Marshall led a court that tackled many cases of importance to the LGBT and HIV communities, not the least of which was Goodridge."

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