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Maine Supreme Judicial Court

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Maine Supreme Judicial Court
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Court Information
Justices: 7
Founded: 1820
Location: Portland
Salary
Associates: $172,266[1]
Judicial Selection
Method: Direct gubernatorial appointment
Term: 7 years
Active justices
Catherine Connors, Wayne R. Douglas, Andrew Horton, Rick E. Lawrence, Julia Lipez, Andrew Mead, Valerie Stanfill


Founded in 1820, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The chief of the court is Valerie Stanfill.[2]

As of April 2025, all seven judges were appointed by Democratic governors.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court typically hears arguments at the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland, although it may occasionally meet elsewhere. The court typically hears arguments one week per month.[3] A hearing calendar is available here.

In Maine, state supreme court justices are selected through direct gubernatorial appointment. Justices are appointed directly by the governor without the use of a nominating commission.[4] There are five states that use this selection method. To read more about the gubernatorial appointment of judges, click here.

Jurisdiction

Maine's Supreme Judicial Court has appellate jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. The Supreme Judicial Court has general administrative and supervisory authority over the Judicial Branch. The Administrative Office of the Courts was created in 1975 to carry out administrative responsibilities, and its administrator is appointed by the chief justice. The chief justice is the designated head of the judicial branch.[5]

The court is unique in that it has the authority to issue advisory opinions on state law to the governor or the legislature when requested.[6]

Per the Maine Constitution, the supreme court operating as the law court (when it exercises its appellate jurisdiction) also has jurisdiction over questions arising from habeas corpus, mandamus, and certiorari, as well as questions of state law that are certified by federal courts.[7]

Justices

The table below lists the current judges of the Maine Supreme Court, their political party, when they assumed office, and appointing governor.


Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Maine


The seven justices of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court are appointed by the governor with confirmation from the Maine State Senate.[8]

Justices serve for seven years after their appointment. To continue to serve on the court, they must be reappointed by the governor and reconfirmed by the Maine State Senate.[8]

Qualifications

State law requires that supreme court justices be "learned in the law."[9]

Chief justice

In Maine, the position of chief justice is a specific seat on the court (similar to the Supreme Court of the United States) rather than a peer-selected leadership position. The chief justice is appointed in the same manner as the other justices on the court.[8]

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the seat is filled as it normally would be if the vacancy occurred at the end of a justice's term. The governor appoints a justice with confirmation by the Maine State Senate. The new appointee serves a seven-year term.[8]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.


Appointments

2024

See also: Maine Supreme Judicial Court justice vacancy (January 2024)

Governor Janet T. Mills (D) appointed Julia Lipez to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, replacing former justice Joseph Jabar, who retired on January 31, 2024.[10] Lipez was Governor Mills' sixth nominee to the seven-member supreme court. Her appointment was confirmed by the Maine State Senate on March 21, 2025, and she was sworn in on March 28, 2025.[11][11]

In Maine, state supreme court justices are selected through direct gubernatorial appointment. Justices are appointed directly by the governor without the use of a nominating commission.[12] There are five states that use this selection method. To read more about the gubernatorial appointment of judges, click here.

If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the seat is filled as it normally would be if the vacancy occurred at the end of a justice's term. The governor appoints a justice with confirmation by the Maine State Senate. The new appointee serves a seven-year term.[8]

2022

Justice Humphrey vacancy

See also: Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice Humphrey vacancy (March 2022)

Maine Governor Janet T. Mills (D) nominated Judge Wayne R. Douglas to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on February 1, 2023. The Maine State Senate confirmed his nomination on February 14, 2023. Douglas succeeded Thomas Humphrey, who retired in March 2022. Douglas was Governor Janet Mills' (D) fifth nominee to the seven-member supreme court.[13][14]

At the time of the vacancy, Maine law required that the governor appoint a justice with confirmation by the Maine State Senate. New appointees served a seven-year term.

Justice Gorman vacancy

See also: Maine Supreme Court Justice Gorman vacancy (March 2022)

Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) nominated Rick Lawrence to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on March 7, 2022. The Maine State Senate confirmed him to the court on April 12, 2022. Lawrence succeeded Justice Ellen Gorman, who retired at the end of her term on March 18, 2022. Lawrence was Gov. Mills' fourth nominee to the seven-member court.[15]

At the time of the nomination, Maine law required the governor's nominee to be confirmed by the legislature's Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary and the Maine State Senate in order to take office.[15]

2020

Justice Alexander vacancy

See also: Maine Supreme Court justice vacancy (January 2020)

On January 6, 2020, Gov. Janet Mills (D) appointed Superior Court Justice Andrew Horton to succeed Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice Donald Alexander, who retired in January 2020. Gov. Mills also appointed attorney Catherine Connors to succeed Justice Jeffrey Hjelm, who retired in December 2019. Connors and Horton were the governor's first and second nominees to the seven-member supreme court.[16]

At the time of the appointment, the governor would appoint a replacement who had to be confirmed by the Maine State Senate in the event of a vacancy under Maine law.

Chief Justice Saufley vacancy

See also: Maine Supreme Court justice vacancy (April 2020)

Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) appointed Valerie Stanfill to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on May 10, 2021.[17] Stanfill was confirmed by the Maine State Senate on June 3.[18] She succeeded Chief Justice Leigh Saufley, who retired on April 14, 2020. Saufley left the court to become the dean of the University of Maine School of Law.[19] Stanfill was Gov. Mills' third nominee to the seven-member supreme court.

At the time of the appointment, the governor would appoint a replacement who had to be confirmed by the Maine State Senate in the event of a vacancy under Maine law.

2019

See also: Maine Supreme Court justice vacancy (December 2019)

On September 20, 2019, Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm was retiring, effective upon the confirmation of his successor.[20][21] Hjelm ultimately retired in December 2019.[16]

On January 6, 2020, Gov. Mills appointed attorney Catherine Connors to succeed Hjelm on the state supreme court. Mills also appointed Maine Superior Court Justice Andrew Horton to succeed Justice Donald Alexander, who retired in January 2020. Connors and Horton were the governor's first and second nominees to the seven-member supreme court.[16]

Under Maine law, when a vacancy occurred on the supreme court, the governor appointed a replacement, dependent on confirmation by the Maine State Senate.

Caseloads

The table below details the number of cases filed with the court. The Maine judiciary does not release the number of dispositions (decisions) the court reached in each year.[22]

Maine Supreme Judicial Court caseload data
Year Filings Dispositions
2023 499 N/A
2022 480 N/A
2021 398 N/A
2020 469 N/A
2019 552 N/A
2018 574 N/A
2017 590 N/A
2016 652 N/A
2015 625 N/A
2014 607 N/A
2013 690 N/A
2012 675 N/A
2011 690 N/A
2010 684 N/A
2009 733 N/A
2008 755 N/A
2007 774 N/A

Analysis

Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters (2021)

See also: Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters

Ballotpedia Courts Determiners and Dissenters navigation ad.png In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters, a study on how state supreme court justices decided the cases that came before them. Our goal was to determine which justices ruled together most often, which frequently dissented, and which courts featured the most unanimous or contentious decisions.

The study tracked the position taken by each state supreme court justice in every case they decided in 2020, then tallied the number of times the justices on the court ruled together. We identified the following types of justices:

  • We considered two justices opinion partners if they frequently concurred or dissented together throughout the year.
  • We considered justices a dissenting minority if they frequently opposed decisions together as a -1 minority.
  • We considered a group of justices a determining majority if they frequently determined cases by a +1 majority throughout the year.
  • We considered a justice a lone dissenter if he or she frequently dissented alone in cases throughout the year.

Summary of cases decided in 2020

  • Number of justices: 7
  • Number of cases: 143
  • Percentage of cases with a unanimous ruling: 92.3% (132)
  • Justice most often writing the majority opinion: Justice Andrew Mead (21)
  • Per curiam decisions: 36
  • Concurring opinions: 3
  • Justice with most concurring opinions: Justices Catherine Connors, Andrew Horton, and Donald Alexander (1)
  • Dissenting opinions: 9
  • Justice with most dissenting opinions: Justice Joseph Jabar (5)

For the study's full set of findings in Maine, click here.

Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)

See also: Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship

Ballotpedia Courts State Partisanship navigation ad.png Last updated: June 15, 2020

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.

The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation, based on a variety of factors. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on the political or ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. To arrive at confidence scores we analyzed each justice's past partisan activity by collecting data on campaign finance, past political positions, party registration history, as well as other factors. The five categories of Confidence Scores were:

  • Strong Democrat
  • Mild Democrat
  • Indeterminate[23]
  • Mild Republican
  • Strong Republican

We used the Confidence Scores of each justice to develop a Court Balance Score, which attempted to show the balance among justices with Democratic, Republican, and Indeterminate Confidence Scores on a court. Courts with higher positive Court Balance Scores included justices with higher Republican Confidence Scores, while courts with lower negative Court Balance Scores included justices with higher Democratic Confidence Scores. Courts closest to zero either had justices with conflicting partisanship or justices with Indeterminate Confidence Scores.[24]

Maine had a Court Balance Score of -3.67, indicating Democrat control of the court. In total, the study found that there were 15 states with Democrat-controlled courts, 27 states with Republican-controlled courts, and eight states with Split courts. The map below shows the court balance score of each state.

SSC by state.png


Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)

See also: Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores of state supreme court justices, 2012

In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan outlook of state supreme court justices in their paper, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns." A score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology while scores below 0 were more liberal. The state Supreme Court of Maine was given a campaign finance score (CFscore), which was calculated for judges in October 2012. At that time, Maine received a score of -1.01. Based on the justices selected, Maine was the 2nd most liberal court. The study was based on data from campaign contributions by judges themselves, the partisan leaning of contributors to the judges, or—in the absence of elections—the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice but rather an academic gauge of various factors.[25]

Noteworthy cases

The following are noteworthy cases heard before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. For a full list of opinions published by the court, click here. Know of a case we should cover here? Let us know by emailing us.

Maine NECEC Transmission Project Certificate Initiative (2020)

See also: Avangrid v. Dunlap

Avangrid Network, Inc., the parent firm of Central Maine Power (CMP), filed a legal complaint against Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap in the Cumberland County Superior Court on May 12, 2020. Avangrid asked the court to issue an injunction to prevent the ballot initiative from being decided at the election on November 3, 2020.[26]

Avangrid argued that the ballot initiative was in violation of three sections of the Maine Constitution.[26]

  • One, Avangrid argued that the ballot initiative exceeds the legislative powers granted under Article IV, Part 3, Section 18 because the ballot initiative would not enact, repeal, or amend a law. The ballot initiative, according to Avangrid, is not legislative in character because the measure would order PUC to reject a single request for a certificate.[26]
  • Two, Avangrid argued that the ballot initiative violates the separation of powers under Article III, Section 2 because the measure would have the effect of reversing executive and judicial decisions.[26]
  • Third, Avangrid argued that the ballot initiative violates Article IV, Part 3, Section 13, which addresses special legislation. According to Avangrid, the ballot initiative is impermissible special legislation because the measure addresses a single administrative proceeding.[26]

Superior Court Justice Thomas Warren heard arguments in the case on June 26, 2020. Justice Warren ruled that constitutional questions could be addressed after the election, stating, "substantive challenges to the validity of the proposed initiative may not be reviewed at this time."[27]

The case was appealed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court stated that the ballot initiative “is not legislative in nature because its purpose and effect is to dictate the [Public Utility] Commission’s exercise of its quasi-judicial executive-agency function in a particular proceeding. The resolve would interfere with and vitiate the Commission’s fact-finding and adjudicatory function—an executive power conferred on the Commission by the Legislature. Although the Legislature may properly constrain the Commission in its legislative functions and may alter the authority conferred on the Commission, the Legislature would exceed its legislative powers if it were to require the Commission to vacate and reverse a particular administrative decision the Commission had made. Thus, the action that would be mandated by the direct initiative would be executive in nature, not legislative.”[28] On August 21, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap (D) confirmed that the ballot initiative would not be added on the ballot.[29]

Ethics

The Maine Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Maine. It consists of four overarching canons:

“
  • Canon 1: A judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary; shall avoid impropriety; and should avoid the appearance of impropriety.
  • Canon 2: A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially, competently, and diligently.
  • Canon 3: A judge shall conduct the judge’s personal and extrajudicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with the obligations of judicial office.
  • Canon 4: A judge or candidate for judicial office shall not engage in political or campaign activity that is inconsistent with the independence, integrity, or impartiality of the judiciary.
  • Canon 5: (Reserved)
  • Canon 6: A judge shall file annual financial disclosure reports.[30]
 ”
—State of Maine Judicial Branch website[31]

The full text of the Maine Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

In Maine, judges may be removed in one of two ways:[32]

History of the court

Maine was a part of Massachusetts, a non-contiguous state, from the 1650s until it achieved statehood in 1820. It was governed by the judicial system of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Maine's earliest attempt at separation from Massachusetts in 1785 included a list of grievances, one of which was "the great expense of obtaining justice, since all of the records of the supreme court are kept in Boston."[33] At the time, a trip from Hampden, Maine to Boston took two weeks by water; the usual mode of travel. Massachusetts added a supreme court term in Wiscasset, Maine to allay concerns, but this and other grievances led to a long campaign resulting in Maine's successful vote for separation in 1819.[34]

Maine's 1820 constitution, which is still in use today, provided for a judicial branch and a supreme judicial court with three justices appointed by the governor. The court is both a trial court and an appellate court. In 1852 the Court Reorganization Act increased the jurisdiction of the supreme judicial court by abolishing the district court system and giving jurisdiction for almost every type of case to the supreme court. It increased the number of justices to seven, authorizing them to travel circuits.[35] Today the number of justices on the supreme court remains seven.

In 1929 superior courts were created to deal with the growing caseload in the state. In 1966 district courts were established with 33 judicial divisions. Slowly over time the supreme court has been given more complete oversight over lower courts, including with enabling acts in 1957, 1959 and 1981.[36] Justices are still appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate to seven-year terms.[37]

Courts in Maine

See also: Courts in Maine

In Maine, there is one federal district court, a state supreme court, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

The image below depicts the flow of cases through Maine's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of Maine's state court system.

Party control of Maine state government

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. A state supreme court plays a role in the checks and balances system of a state government.

Maine has a Democratic trifecta. The Democratic Party controls the office of governor and both chambers of the state legislature.

Maine Party Control: 1992-2025
Fifteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Two years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor R R R I I I I I I I I D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D
Senate D D D R R D D D D S S D D D D D D D D R R D D R R R R D D D D D D D
House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D

See also

Maine Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in Maine
Maine Supreme Court
Elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Maine
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The salary of the chief justice may be higher than an associate justice.
  2. ↑ State of Maine Judicial Branch, "Supreme Court Justices," accessed June 14, 2021
  3. ↑ State of Maine Judicial Branch, "Supreme Court Calendar," accessed September 16, 2021
  4. ↑ Note: In New Hampshire, a judicial selection commission has been established by executive order. The commission's recommendations are not binding.
  5. ↑ State of Maine Judicial Branch,"Supreme Judicial Court," accessed June 18, 2024
  6. ↑ Justia US Law,"Maine Supreme Judicial Court Decisions," accessed June 18, 2024
  7. ↑ Maine Legislature, Revised Statutes,"Title 4: Judiciary," accessed June 18, 2024
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Maine," accessed September 15, 2021
  9. ↑ Maine Legislature, "Title 4: Judiciary, Chapter 1: Supreme Judicial Court - §1. Constitution of the court; administrative responsibilities of the court and the Chief Justice," accessed April 3, 2023
  10. ↑ Office of Governor Janet Mills, "Governor Mills Nominates Maine Superior Court Justice Julia Lipez to Serve on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court," February 28, 2025
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Bangor Daily News, "Maine Senate confirms Julia Lipez to the Supreme Judicial Court," March 21, 2025 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "conf" defined multiple times with different content
  12. ↑ Note: In New Hampshire, a judicial selection commission has been established by executive order. The commission's recommendations are not binding.
  13. ↑ State of Maine Office of Governor Janet T. Mills, "Governor Mills Nominates Veteran Superior Court Justice to Maine Supreme Judicial Court," February 1, 2023
  14. ↑ Maine Public, "York County judge confirmed for Maine Supreme Court vacancy," February 16, 2023
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Office of Governor Janet T. Mills, "Governor Mills Nominates Judge Rick Lawrence to Maine Supreme Judicial Court," March 7, 2022
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Maine.gov, "Governor Mills Nominates Candidates to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court & Superior Court," January 6, 2020
  17. ↑ State of Maine, Office of Governor Janet T. Mills, "Governor Mills Nominates Justice Valerie Stanfill as Chief Justice of Maine Supreme Judicial Court," May 10, 2021
  18. ↑ WABI5, "Maine confirms new chief justice for highest court," June 3, 2021
  19. ↑ Penobscot Bay Pilot, "Maine’s Chief Justice Leigh Saufley to be named dean of University of Maine School of Law," April 9, 2020
  20. ↑ Office of Governor Janet T. Mills, "Governor Mills Thanks Justice Hjelm For His Service," September 20, 2019
  21. ↑ Sara Reynolds, "Email communication with Press Secretary Lindsay Crete," September 24, 2019
  22. ↑ Maine Judicial Branch, "Maine Law Court - CIVIL APPEALS FILED," July 21, 2023
  23. ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
  24. ↑ The Court Balance Score is calculated by finding the average partisan Confidence Score of all justices on a state supreme court. For example, if a state has justices on the state supreme court with Confidence Scores of 4, -2, 2, 14, -2, 3, and 4, the Court Balance is the average of those scores: 3.3. Therefore, the Confidence Score on the court is Mild Republican. The use of positive and negative numbers in presenting both Confidence Scores and Court Balance Scores should not be understood to that either a Republican or Democratic score is positive or negative. The numerical values represent their distance from zero, not whether one score is better or worse than another.
  25. ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 Cumberland County Superior Court, "Avangrid v. Dunlap," May 12, 2020
  27. ↑ Bangor Daily News, "Lawyers ask judge to remove CMP corridor referendum from November ballot," June 25, 2020
  28. ↑ News Center Maine, "Judge allows billion dollar CMP transmission line referendum to remain on ballot," June 30, 2020
  29. ↑ News Center Maine, "Sec. of State: CMP corridor people's veto won't be on Nov. ballot," August 21, 2020
  30. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  31. ↑ State of Maine Judicial Branch, "Maine Code of Judicial Conduct," accessed August 18, 2025
  32. ↑ JUSTIA U.S. Law, "Maine Supreme Judicial Court Decisions," accessed August 18, 2025
  33. ↑ The University of Maine Digital Commons,"Separation of Maine from Massachusetts," accessed June 18, 2024
  34. ↑ MassMoments,"Massachusetts Loses Maine," accessed June 18, 2024
  35. ↑ Maine State Archives,"Judicial Department," accessed June 18, 2024
  36. ↑ Maine Law Review,"Structure of the Maine Court System, 1956-1991," accessed June 18, 2024
  37. ↑ Maine: An Encyclopedia,"History of the Court System - Long Form," accessed June 18, 2024

Maine courts

Federal courts:

First Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Maine • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Maine

State courts:

Maine Supreme Judicial Court • Maine Superior Court • Maine Business and Consumer Court • Maine District Courts • Maine Family Division • Maine Juvenile Court • Maine Probate Courts • Maine Small Claims Court • Maine Treatment Court

State resources:

Courts in Maine • Maine judicial elections • Judicial selection in Maine


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