Maine Supreme Judicial Court

Maine Supreme Judicial Court
Seal of Maine
43.659245°N 70.253701°W / 43.659245; -70.253701
Established	1820
Jurisdiction	Maine
Location	Varies; primarily Portland, Maine
Coordinates	43.659245°N 70.253701°W / 43.659245; -70.253701
Authorised by	Maine Constitution
Appeals to	Supreme Court of the United States
Number of positions	7
Website	https://www.courts.maine.gov/courts/sjc/index.html
Chief Justice
Currently	Valerie Stanfill
Since	June 8, 2021

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state of Maine's judicial system. It is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. Between 1820 and 1839, justices served lifetime appointments with a mandatory retirement age of 70. Starting in 1839, justices have been appointed for seven-year terms, with no limit on the number of terms that they may serve nor a mandatory retirement age.^[1][2][3]

Known as the Law Court when sitting as an appellate court, the Supreme Court's other functions include hearing appeals of sentences longer than one year of incarceration, overseeing admission to the bar and the conduct of its members, and promulgating rules for all the state's courts.^[4]

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is one of the few state supreme courts in the United States authorized to issue advisory opinions, which it does upon request by the governor or legislature, as set out in the Maine Constitution.^[4]

It is also unusual for a state's highest appellate court in that its primary location is not that of the state's capital city, Augusta, partially because the Kennebec County Courthouse did not have a courtroom large enough for the Supreme Court's proceedings.^[5] The court did meet there from 1830 until 1970, when it permanently moved to the Cumberland County Courthouse. The renovation of the Kennebec County Courthouse in 2015, which included expansion of the bench in its largest courtroom to permit all seven justices to sit there at the same time, has allowed the court to meet there at least twice a year. It will also continue to meet in Portland, Bangor, and at high schools around the state.^[6] The new Judicial Center in Biddeford, scheduled to be completed in early 2023, will also contain a courtroom large enough to permit the court to sit there.

Maine Supreme Judicial Court, 1859-1862. Standing, from left to right: Daniel Goodenow, Richmond D. Rice, Woodbury Davis, and future Chief Justice John Appleton. Sitting, from left to right: Edward Kent, Seth May, Chief Justice John S. Tenney, and Jonas Cutting.

The MSJC is also authorized to rule on the fitness of the governor of Maine to serve in office, which it does upon the secretary of state certifying to the court that the governor is temporarily unable to carry out the duties of that office. The court must then hold a hearing and, if it agrees that the governor is unfit, declare the office of governor temporarily vacant and transfer its duties to the president of the Maine Senate, who would serve as acting governor. If the secretary of state later certifies to the Supreme Court that the governor is fit to resume office, the court would then decide whether it agrees.^[7]

Current justices

See also: List of justices of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court

Justice	Born	Joined	Term ends	Appointed by	Law school
Valerie Stanfill, Chief Justice	1957 or 1958 (age 66–67)	June 8, 2021	June 8, 2028	Janet Mills (D)	Maine
Andrew Mead	1952 (age 72–73)	March 22, 2007	March 22, 2028	John Baldacci (D)	New York
Andrew M. Horton	(1949-08-28) August 28, 1949 (age 75)	February 4, 2020	February 3, 2027	Janet Mills (D)	Georgetown
Catherine Connors	(1959-01-26) January 26, 1959 (age 65)	February 4, 2020	February 3, 2027	Janet Mills (D)	Northwestern
Rick E. Lawrence	(1955-11-04) November 4, 1955 (age 69)	May 4, 2022	May 4, 2029	Janet Mills (D)	Harvard
Wayne R. Douglas	1951 or 1952 (age 72–73)	March 10, 2023	March 10, 2030	Janet Mills (D)	Maine
seat vacant	–	–	–	–	–

Vacancy and pending nomination

Seat	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
—	Joseph Jabar	Resignation	January 31, 2024[8]	–	–

There are two active retired justices.

Justice	Born	Service began	Ended service	Active retired service began	Appointed by	Law school
Jeffrey Hjelm	(1955-09-30) September 30, 1955 (age 69)	August 1, 2014	December 2019	February 2020	Paul LePage (R)	Case Western Reserve
Thomas E. Humphrey	(1945-11-19) November 19, 1945 (age 79)	June 9, 2015	March 7, 2022	March 7, 2022[9]	Paul LePage (R)	Boston College

See also

• Courts of Maine

References

1. Constitution of 1820
2. Amendment to the constitution, 1839
3. Current constitution
4. "State of Maine Judicial Branch: Supreme Court". State of Maine Judicial Branch. 2011. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
5. "Talks continue on Kennebec courthouse parking area". Kennebec Journal. June 23, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
6. "Historic Kennebec County Courthouse in Augusta to host Maine Supreme Judicial Court again". Kennebec Journal. September 8, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
7. "What it takes to remove a governor from office". Kennebec Journal. August 26, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
8. "Maine high court justice says he was passed over for reappointment". Press Herald. February 2, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
9. "Active Retired Justice, Maine Supreme Court" (PDF). Office of the Governor. March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2023.

External links

• Maine Supreme Judicial Court official website
• Maine Supreme Judicial Court Opinions
• "Maine", Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School, OCLC 1078785565, Court decisions freely available to the public online, in a consistent format, digitized from the collection of the Harvard Law Library