PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT
John Adams Courthouse
One Pemberton Square
Boston, Massachusetts 02108
MEDIA ADVISORY
CONTACT:
Jennifer Donahue / Erika Gully-Santiago
(617) 557-1114
Jennifer.Donahue@jud.state.ma.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2017
Governor Baker, House Speaker DeLeo, Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Gants, to Speak at Springfield Courthouse Renaming Ceremony for Retired Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland
WHAT:
The Massachusetts Trial Court will celebrate the renaming of the Hampden County Hall of Justice as the Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse on Friday, November 10 at 3:30 p.m.
Wayne A. Budd, a former U.S. Attorney (District of Massachusetts), and current Senior Counsel at Goodwin Proctor, will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Those expected to speak at the event include Governor Charles D. Baker, Speaker of the Massachusetts House Robert A. DeLeo, Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, Representative Benjamin Swan (Ret), and Representative Russell E. Holmes, former Chair of the Black & Latino Caucus.
Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants, Trial Court Chief Justice Paula M. Carey, and Honorable Roderick L. Ireland are also expected to deliver remarks.
The Honorable Roderick L. Ireland, a Springfield native, was Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court from 2010 to 2014. When he was appointed to the Supreme Judicial Court as an Associate Justice in 1997, he became the first African-American to sit on the Court, and in 2010, when he was appointed Chief Justice, the Court's first African-American Chief Justice.
Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Judicial Court, Honorable Roderick L. Ireland presided as a judge on the Appeals Court from 1990 to 1997, and before that as a Boston Juvenile Court Judge, from 1977 to 1990. When he retired in 2014, he had served as a judge for 37 years.
Since his retirement, he has taken a position on the faculty of Northeastern University as a Distinguished Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
A link to his full biography is available online, on Northeastern University's website.
WHERE:
Springfield Symphony Hall
34 Court Street
Springfield, MA 01103
WHEN:
Friday, November 10, 2017
3:30 – 5:30 p.m.