Councilors Praise Judge During Her Third Confirmation Hearing
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, OCT. 23, 2024…..Gov. Maura Healey’s pick to lead the Appeals Court heard unanimous praise on Wednesday from members of the Governor’s Council, who said they plan to award her confirmation next week as the court’s first woman chief justice.
Coworkers and a former law clerk also heaped compliments on Judge Amy Blake, who won council approval in 2008 as a Probate and Family Court jurist and again in 2014 to join the appellate bench.
“Y’know, I’ve been a big fan of yours since I met you when I first came here about 12 years ago. And my time on the Council is ending soon,” said Councilor Eileen Duff, who represents Blake’s hometown of Peabody and is preparing to retire after more than a decade on the council. “And I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for applying for this job. I think you’re the exact right person at the exact right time.”
Blake still lives in her native Peabody with her son and her husband, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and retired Swampscott firefighter. She said her path to a judgeship was “not well defined” as she traveled it, and included night classes at New England Law Boston as she eventually pursued a law degree.
“If confirmed as chief, I am committed to building integrity and trust within the court and with all court stakeholders,” she told the council.
A former Middlesex County prosecutor, Blake was an associate at Yasi & Yasi, a partner at White, Inker, Aronson, and then worked at Casner & Edwards where, she said, she became the firm’s first female equity partner. Gov. Deval Patrick first appointed her to the bench.
Councilor Tara Jacobs said she had “nothing but positive things” to say about Blake, Councilor Paul DePalo said he heard “universally positive” feedback about her, and Councilors Terrence Kennedy, Joseph Ferreira, and Christopher Iannella Jr. said Blake would have their votes at the panel’s Oct. 30 assembly.
Like Duff, who is running for a register of deeds post this fall, Councilor Marilyn Petitto Devaney is preparing for her Council swan song. Devaney was defeated in the Democratic primary.
“I can’t tell you — I don’t have a poker face — how thrilled I am with your appointment, and how happy I am this wasn’t two months from now. That I’m here, to be able to talk with you at the hearing, and to vote for you. We go back a long way. This is my third time voting for you,” Devaney told Blake.
The hearing, in Room 222 of the State House, was packed with fellow Appeals Court judges, former Chief Justice Mark Green (who retired Sept. 1), Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan (one of Blake’s first supervisors in the DA’s office), and Supreme Judicial Court Justice Gabrielle Wolohojian (who Blake called “my mentor on the Appeals Court”). And, Blake said, also supporting her in person Wednesday was every single law clerk she had ever had.
“Frankly, I believe that she is a natural leader,” said Appeals Court Judge Ariane Vuono, who is serving as acting chief.
Vuono, a Gov. Mitt Romney appointee, said she has worked with four chiefs during her time on the court, and “if confirmed, Justice Blake will stand tall among them.”
Barbara “Maggi” Farrell, an administrative attorney and law clerk manager at the Appeals Court, said Blake possesses “both the talent and the temperament to be wildly successful.”
“It never ceases to amaze me that she is always on top of her caseload and her committee responsibilities, and she still manages to find time to orchestrate the production of the Appeals Court cookbook,” she said.
Blake is already a “guiding force” on the court, Farrell said, who pays it forward by hiring clerks from her alma mater, New England Law Boston, and offering a helping hand as they start their careers.
That was the experience of attorney Brian Edmonds, a Worcester-based litigation associate at Prince Lobel Tye LLP, who clerked for Blake from 2020 to 2022 and called her “my most important mentor.”
“Simply put, the entire court looks to Justice Blake as a mentor,” he added.
During the interview portion of the hearing, Councilor Kennedy — a practicing criminal defense lawyer — questioned Blake about the status of a decision backlog at the Appeals Court.
Blake said the court had made “tremendous progress,” and referenced the appointment of a new top clerk this year; Paul Tuttle was appointed Appeals Court clerk in June. Meantime, Blake said, one third of judges have been on the Appeals Court for four years or fewer which has created a learning curve.
“We have some people that are sitting in jail,” Kennedy said. “My friend Councilor Jubinville used to refer to it as a cage. And they’re sitting there, and sometimes a panel may have decided that this conviction’s not going to stand. They’re going to overturn it. And that person should be getting out of jail. But we’re sitting there waiting for editing to occur. We’re sitting there waiting for things to get published.”
Blake said decisions that will reverse criminal convictions, and result in a person’s release, are prioritized for judicial writing and editorial review — “to get those out as quickly as possible.”
In such cases, she said, it takes within two weeks to write the decision, get signoff from the appellate panel, and get it over to the editorial department. Once in the editorial department’s hands and flagged as a priority, it can take a week or less until the decision is published and put into effect.
“I am both honored and humbled by the chance to lead this remarkable court, if I am confirmed,” Blake said in her remarks to the Council. “And to do so as the first woman chief justice is something I could never have dreamed of.”
“I think you’re going to be a great chief, and thanks for stepping up,” said Councilor Duff, who chaired Wednesday’s hearing.
