MassLive: Gov. Maura Healey nominates Mass. Solicitor Elizabeth Dewar to fill SJC seat

By Alvin Buyinza

Originally published in MassLive

Gov. Maura Healey nominated State Solicitor Elizabeth N. Dewar to fill a seat on Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court on Friday, making it the governor’s first judicial nomination to the state’s highest court.

While serving as attorney general in 2016, Healey appointed Dewar to be the Commonwealth’s second state solicitor, where she supervised the briefing and arguing of appeals by attorneys in the attorney general’s office in court, according to the governor’s office.

Dewar also briefly served as acting attorney general earlier this year, before Andrea Campbell took office as attorney general.

A Yale Law School alum, Dewar also worked as an appellate and trial lawyer at Ropes & Gray LLP, was a civil rights advocate at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia and clerked for U.S Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer, according to the governor’s office.

The majority of Dewar’s appellate work was in the Supreme Judicial Court, which included reviewing briefs, advising on cases pending in the Appeals Court that may be taken up by the SJC and tracking cases on which the high court rules.

In a statement, the governor described Dewar as a “consensus builder” who had a “deep passion” for the work the Supreme Judicial Court did.

“She is a true student of the institution, and I am confident that she is the right person to fill this seat in this pivotal moment for the Court,” Healey said in a statement. “I’m grateful for the hard work of the Supreme Judicial Nominating Commission to recommend her and for the Governor’s Council’s careful consideration of her nomination.”

The Governor’s Council much confirm the nomination for it to officially go through.

Dewar is being nominated to fill the position left open by Associate Justice Elspeth B. Cypher, who is set to retire on Jan. 12, 2024. Cypher, who former Gov. Charlie Baker appointed, announced she’d be stepping down from the bench in June to pursue a position at Boston College Law School.

Dewar’s nomination has been met with praise.

Rebecca Hart Holder, president of Reproductive Equity Now, a Boston nonprofit that advocates for equitable reproductive access, applauded Dewar for her role in authoring briefs against Texas Law SB8, the Texas six-week abortion ban and bounty hunter law.

“She has made critical contributions to dozens of multistate briefs filed in cases across the country regarding abortion access and gender-affirming care,” Holder said in a statement. “We know that Bessie will bring her brilliant legal mind to the Supreme Judicial Court to make profound impacts and create a lasting legacy for reproductive freedom in the commonwealth.”