By JOSH RESNEK
Last week, behind the leadership of Everett’s Terrence Kennedy, the Governor’s Council unanimously approved the confirmation of Dalila Argaez Wendlandt as Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Justice Wendlandt is the first Hispanic person to be appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Thus, ended a process that began earlier in November when Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito made the decision to nominate Wendlandt.
“Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt is a highly intelligent, accomplished jurist who has served with distinction on the Appeals Court, and I am confident that she will continue to serve with integrity and impartiality on the Supreme Judicial Court,” said Baker.
“I congratulate Justice Wendlandt on her unanimous confirmation, and extend my gratitude to the members of the Governor’s Council for their careful consideration of this highly-qualified candidate who will be the first Hispanic person to serve on the Commonwealth’s highest court.”
Polito said she was honored and pleased about the confirmation.
“I am honored to congratulate Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt on her unanimous and historic confirmation as the first Hispanic person on the Supreme Judicial Court, and know that her legal acumen, diligence, and unique professional background will be an asset to the Court and all that comes before it,” said Polito. “Thank you to my colleagues on the Governor’s Council for their hard work to review and confirm her nomination.”
Both Baker and Polito singled out Governor’s
Councilor Kennedy for guiding the council in its
effort to mix the composition of the court system to include more women and more minorities.
“Councilor Kennedy has done an admirable job,” Baker told the Leader Herald.
Polito echoed his words: “Councilor Kennedy is to be complimented for guiding this nomination to approval. It speaks well of Terrence and the rest of the council.”
The Supreme Judicial Court is the Commonwealth’s highest appellate court, consisting of the Chief Justice and six Associate Justices.
The seven Justices hear appeals on a broad range of criminal and civil cases from September through May and issue have written opinions that are posted online.
Wendlandt, Associate Justice, was appointed to the Appeals Court by Baker in July of 2017.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to parents who had immigrated from Colombia, Wendlandt graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1993. While at MIT, she designed, manufactured, and developed the non-collocated control of a climbing robot. She then earned her Juris Doctor degree, with highest honors, from Stanford University Law School in 1996, where she was an article editor of the Stanford Law Review.