Roderick L. Ireland

Who is Roderick L. Ireland?

Roderick L. Ireland is a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. He was nominated for Chief Justice by Governor Deval Patrick on November 4, 2010, and sworn in on December 20. He has announced his retirement effective July 25, 2014. He was previously an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, appointed in 1997 by Governor William Weld. Prior to that appointment, he served on the Massachusetts Court of Appeals from 1990-1997 and the Boston Juvenile Court from 1977-1990. He was appointed to both courts by Governor Michael Dukakis. He is the first African-American associate justice and also the first African-American chief justice of the Massachusetts high court. He resigned from the high court in 2014, and was replaced by Associate Justice Ralph Gants.

Chief Justice Ireland graduated from Lincoln University with a B.A. in 1966, from Columbia Law School with a J.D. in 1969, from Harvard Law School with an LL.M. in 1975, and from Northeastern University's Law, Policy, and Society Program with a Ph.D. in 1998.