Baker Nominates First Latina To Massachusetts High Court

BOSTON —Gov. Charlie Baker nominated Massachusetts Appellate Court Judge Dalila Argaez Wendlandt to the Supreme Judicial Court. If she is appointed she would be the first Latina to serve on the state’s highest court.

"Her colleagues and those who have appeared before her describe her as 'brilliant, a home run, a great colleague who compromises and has a terrific sense of humor,'" Baker said during an afternoon news conference Tuesday "She's patient, even keeled and down to earth.

Baker said her fellow justices know they can depend on her and have said that her decisions are true to the law and the facts of each case and demonstrate her open-minded approach to the issues.

Her appointment would fill one of two openings on the Supreme Judicial Court seven-member court.

Her parents emigrated from Colombia for educational opportunities and a better life, said Baker

Last week, Baker nominated associate justice Kimberly Budd as the court’s chief justice to replace the late Ralph Gants, who died of complications from a heart attack in September. She would be the first Black woman to serve as its chief justice, if confirmed.

Baker appointed Wendlandt, 51, to the state’s Appeals Court in July 2017. She holds mechanical engineering degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and graduated from Stanford University Law School in 1996. She was born in New Orleans, according to her bio.