Judith Cowin
From Judgepedia
justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. In 1991, she was appointed an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court where she served until Governor A. Paul Cellucci appointed her as an Associate Justice to the Supreme Judicial Court in October, 1999. Appointments to the Massachusetts high court are permanent to age 70.
Biography
Associate Justice Cowin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, April 29, 1942. She is married and has three grown children, April Cowin Stein, Jackie A. Cowin and William P. Cowin. A graduate of Wellesley College, she received her J.D. from Harvard Law School. From 1971-1972, she served as assistant legal counsel to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. From 1972-1979, she was legal counsel for the Office of the Chief Justice of the District Court Department. She was an Assistant District Attorney in Norfolk County from 1979-1991, prosecuting jury-of-six cases from 1979-1980 and felony cases in the Superior Court from 1980-1991. She was also a clinical field supervisor for Harvard Law School in 1980.
Notable opinions
Cowin was one of four justices to concur with the majority opinion in the Goodridge v. Department of Public Health case, which legalized same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
