John M. Greaney (born April 8, 1939) is a former Associate Justice of the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...

and former Chief Justice of the

Massachusetts Appeals Court The Massachusetts Appeals Court is the intermediate appellate court of Massachusetts. It was created in 1972 as a court of general appellate jurisdiction. The court is located at the John Adams Courthouse at Pemberton Square in Boston, the same ...

. After his judicial retirement, he served as Director of the Macaronis Institute for Trial and Appellate Advocacy at

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two block ...

. He currently is in private practice as senior counsel at Bulkley Richardson in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. John Greaney was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, on April 8, 1939. He graduated from St Mary's High School, the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

, and received a law degree from New York University School of Law. After briefly serving in the military, Chief Justice Greaney joined the Springfield law firm of Ely and King until his appointment to the Hampden County Housing Court in 1974. Greaney served as presiding judge in the Housing Court until Governor Michael Dukakis appointed him to the Superior Court in 1975, then to the Appeals Court in 1978. He served as an associate justice until 1984, when he became the Appeals Court's chief justice. In 1989, Greaney was appointed to the Supreme Judicial Court, where he served until his retirement in 2008. In his time on the bench, he wrote a well-known concurrence in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health. In 2008, Justice Greaney retired from the court and was appointed director of the Macaronis Institute for Trial and Appellate Advocacy at

in Boston.Denise Lavoie, Associated Press / November 30, 2008, Boston Globe, "Retiring SJC judge Greaney no shriking violet" http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/30/retiring_sjc_judge_greaney_no_shrinking_violet/

References

* Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Massachusetts Judicial Profile

1939 births Living people People from Westfield, Massachusetts College of the Holy Cross alumni New York University School of Law alumni Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Judges of the Massachusetts Appeals Court {{Massachusetts-state-judge-stub