Well, this is downright uncanny. It is a very small world. Gov. Patrick nominated Ralph Gants for the SJC — he's been a Superior Court judge for 11 years.
Well, I actually served on a jury in Judge Gants' court, for a medical malpractice case. I can tell you that in my experience he was sober, fair, thoroughly reasonable, and generous to the jury in going beyond typical practice in helping us get the information we needed to make our decision: For instance, we were allowed to submit questions to witnesses, after being cleared by Judge Gants and both plaintiffs' and defense lawyers. I gather this is unusual, and it was most helpful indeed. In fact, it was an experience that led one to have more faith in the judicial system.
(Anyway, some of the loony-tunes over in the Globe comments section have made up their minds about him … Please be assured that they don't know what they're talking about.)
Congratulations Judge Gants.
Not only does he read everything before making decisions [which, alas, many judges appear not to do] he has shown more compassion then most judges in dealing with keeping poor parents from becoming homeless due to arbitrary acts from agencies.
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p>I view him as hard working, compassionate, open minded, and totally lacking in the arrogance I feel I have observed in some members of the judiciary.
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p>While my sample is incomplete, based on my data set and personal observations I believe that Judge Gants is one of the best judges in this state and a superb pick for the Supreme Judicial Court.
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p>A ray of light in the midst of much dark news.
has been uniformly positive, and what I’ve heard from colleagues is similar. A very good pick, as far as I can tell.