The Governor's Council on Wednesday confirmed Supreme Judicial Court nominee Gabrielle Wolohojian, approving Gov. Maura Healey's second appointee to the state's highest court.
The council voted 6-1 to confirm the nomination, with Councilor Tara Jacobs of North Adams casting the lone vote of dissent.
An accomplished Appeals Court jurist of 16 years and former partner at the firm now known as WilmerHale, Wolohojian's nomination has drawn public scrutiny because of her past personal relationship with the governor. Healey and the judge shared a home in Charlestown for several years.
Members of the Governor's Council, an elected panel with final approval power over judgeships, heaped praise on Wolohojian's professional track record at a public interview on Feb. 21 and largely avoided delving into the personal past between Healey and Wolohojian.
But that relationship — as well as the conflicts of interest it may create — was among Jacobs' concerns.
"From an inclusion standpoint, it just felt very exclusionary — in that, you couldn't have a more insider nominee," Jacobs said at the meeting. "So I have concerns about that in terms of how it might dissuade people from applying who are not inside a network like that."
Jacobs also noted her constituents are upset the nominee lives in the Boston area, at a time when no justice on the state's highest court is from western Mass.
And while Jacobs said Wolohojian has "a fantastic resume and experience," the councilor said she was left with a concern after her conversation with the nominee.
"[Wolohojian] has breathed rarified air from the time she was young — education and through her career," she said. "And my perception from that is she intellectualizes the marginalized community's struggle in a way that feels very much a bubble of privilege and detached from the struggle itself."
Wolohojian, 63, is eligible to serve on the bench until Dec. 16, 2030 when she reaches the state's mandatory judicial retirement age of 70.
"A good judge listens. A good judge is fair. A good judge is prepared. And I learned that when you walk away from a good judge's courtroom, your confidence in the justice system is renewed, even if you lost your cause on that particular day," she said at her pre-confirmation hearing last week.
This report contains information from NEPM's Sam Hudzik.
