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Elspeth Cypher
Elspeth B. Cypher was a judge of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. She assumed office on March 31, 2017. She left office on January 12, 2024.
Cypher became a member of the court through gubernatorial appointment. She was appointed to this court in February 2017 by Republican Governor Charlie Baker to succeed retiring Justice Margot Botsford. She was confirmed by the Governor's Council on March 8, 2017.[1][2] To read more about judicial selection in Massachusetts, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[3] Cypher received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[4] Click here to read more about this study.
Cypher retired from the Massachusetts Supreme Court on January 12, 2024. To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
Biography
Cypher earned her B.A. from Emerson College in 1980 and her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 1986.[5] Cypher began her legal career as an associate with the law firm Grayer, Brown and Dilday. She left the firm in 1988 to become an assistant district attorney in Bristol County. In 1993, she became the chief of the appellate division of this office and served in this capacity until her appointment to the appeals court.[5]
Cypher was appointed to the Massachusetts Appeals Court by Republican Governor Paul Cellucci and took the bench on December 27, 2000. She was appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in February 2017 by Republican Governor Charlie Baker. Cypher is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association.[5]
Appointments
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (2017-2024)
Republican Governor Charlie Baker appointed Cypher to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in February 2017.
Cypher served on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court until her retirement on January 12, 2024.
Massachusetts Appeals Court (2000-2017)
Cypher was appointed to the Massachusetts Appeals Court by Republican Governor Paul Cellucci and took the bench on December 27, 2000.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
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. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[6]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[7]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Elspeth
Cypher
Massachusetts
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Direct gubernatorial appointment - Key Factors:
- Donated less than $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
Cypher donated $250 to Republican candidates and organizations. She was appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker (R).
Noteworthy cases
Lunn v. Commonwealth
On July 24, 2017, a unanimous Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that Massachusetts law did not authorize state court officials to detain someone based solely on a request by federal immigration authorities.[8] Federal authorities would make that request using a civil immigration detainer. As the federal government acknowledged, the court wrote, civil immigration detainers “are simply requests. They are not commands, and they impose no mandatory obligations on the State authorities to which they are directed.” Therefore, the court said, the question was whether state law authorized court officials to detain someone based solely on a civil detainer. Noting the specific circumstances under which state laws empowered court officials to arrest or detain someone, the court ruled that “Massachusetts law provides no authority for Massachusetts court officers to arrest and hold an individual solely on the basis of a Federal civil immigration detainer, beyond the time that the individual would otherwise be entitled to be released from State custody.”[8]
State supreme court judicial selection in Massachusetts
- See also: Judicial selection in Massachusetts
The seven justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court are appointed by the governor with the approval of the Governor's Council. The Governor's Council is constitutionally authorized and advises the governor on government affairs in Massachusetts. The council is composed of eight members and is elected biennially by the voters. Judges on the supreme court serve until the mandatory retirement age of 70.[9]
Qualifications
Judges of this court must be under the age of 70.[9]
Chief justice
The chief justice is also appointed by the governor with council approval, serving until age 70 as well.[9]
Vacancies
Vacancies on the supreme court are filled by the governor with the approval of the Governor's Council. Judges serve until the mandatory retirement age of 70.[9]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ WPRI, "Gov. Baker nominates appeals judge to state’s highest court," February 8, 2017
- ↑ The Patriot Ledger, "Former Bristol County prosecutor confirmed to state supreme court," March 8, 2017
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Massachusetts Court System, "Associate Justice Espeth B. Cypher," accessed February 9, 2017
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Massachusetts Supreme Court, Lunn v. Commonwealth Slip opinion, filed July 24, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Massachusetts," accessed August 25, 2021
Federal courts:
First Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Massachusetts • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Massachusetts
State courts:
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court • Massachusetts Appeals Court • Massachusetts Superior Courts • Massachusetts District Courts • Massachusetts Housing Courts • Massachusetts Juvenile Courts • Massachusetts Land Courts • Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts • Boston Municipal Courts, Massachusetts
State resources:
Courts in Massachusetts • Massachusetts judicial elections • Judicial selection in Massachusetts
