Four Supreme Judicial Court cases to watch in November

 

New from CommonWealth Beacon CLIMATE CHAT: In a conversation with CommonWealth Beacon, Massachusetts energy and environmental affairs secretary Rebecca Tepper discusses her previously unreported trip up to Nova Scotia last month to meet with officials to explore how Massachusetts can potentially tap into Canadian offshore wind. She tells Jordan Wolman that the state should push forward on its clean energy transition while cutting costs.  SAFETY BILL: A new bill put forward in the House would give transit workers expanded legal protections against assault and battery. Colin Young of the State House News Service reports the bill was filed in response to what Speaker Ron Mariano described as “growing concerns from transit agencies and labor advocates about the rising number of attacks on workers.”

Four Supreme Judicial Court cases to watch in November   October 24, 2025 By Jennifer Smith

During the first full week of most months from September through May, the Supreme Judicial Court is open for arguments. Between a handful of first degree murder appeals, the seven justices consider some cases that have slowly wound their way up from the lower courts, plus a few that present important questions of constitutional law that call for clarity from the state’s high court before sending them back down for trial or judgement.

In November, the justices will wrestle with some disputes that are years or decades in the making. Others touch on current crises. And the Legislature’s action or inaction is often a factor.

Here’s a preview of four cases that could have wide-ranging effects, set for oral arguments before the SJC next month.

A controversial charter school argues that it should be immune from public records laws. The court considers whether a college official is entitled to whistleblower protection.

Another case asks if courts can step in, when the Legislature doesn’t, to set higher rates for private attorneys representing defendants without means. And a tobacco giant claims that a $1 billion jury verdict against them means they should be given a new trial.

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More Context SJC to weigh wrongful death restrictions in cigarette suits (March 2023)  Lawyer work stoppage crisis hits the juvenile justice system (July 2025)  Chief Justice Kimberly Budd wants to repair trust in courts (June 2025)

More from CommonWealth Beacon HOUSING WOES: Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration has stayed away from the long-term Boston housing goals that were a point of pride for her predecessors. But as she skates to a second term in a city feeling one of the most pronounced housing crunches in the country, criticism seems muted. Jennifer Smith has more.   OPINION: The National Voter Registration Act has been a boon to civic participation by registering voters when they have interactions at state registries of motor vehicles. But our public hospitals are not complying with the law’s requirement that they also offer voter registration assistance. We need them – along with private hospitals – to step up and do their part, write Brooke Simone of Lawyers for Civil Rights and Donald Berwick, the former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and former president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

What We're Reading DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Advocates are calling on lawmakers to restore more than $6 million to this year’s state budget that was cut from a Department of Public Health account that goes directly to programs for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. As they crafted this year’s spending plan, budget-writers cautioned that leaner economic times and shifts in federal policy would translate to difficult choices about how to deploy limited resources. (GBH News)  SAFETY: A hidden camera was discovered in the women’s locker room at John Hancock's Boston office building in April 2019. John Hancock leadership waited 49 days to bring in police. (WBUR)  HEALTH CARE: A new report by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission found that 580,000 people live in pharmacy deserts, or areas without any drug stores. Another 525,000 live in near-deserts, where only one pharmacy operates and its closure would create another desert. (The Boston Globe – paywall)  HOUSING: State data released in August claims Massachusetts is nearly halfway to its 2035 housing production goal. But a new analysis suggests that pace will be short-lived. (Banker & Tradesman – paywall)  CRIMINAL JUSTICE: A new program in Barnstable County aims to connect people leaving jail or rehab to trade skill training through a partnership between the county sheriff’s office and a local nonprofit working with area businesses to provide apprenticeships. (The Cape Cod Times – paywall)

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