Suffolk County Attorney Allison S. Cartwright announced she is running for Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court in Suffolk County. Cartwright is looking to build on her thirty-plus years of legal representation and management in the Clerk position, which oversees critical functions within the court system including managing the court’s single justice caseload concerning bail reviews, appeals form state registration boards and agencies, and appeals from lower courts. Additionally, the Clerk handles all matters concerning the admission of attorneys to the Massachusetts bar, and attorney discipline.
“Fundamentally this job is about navigating justice and access to our state’s highest court,” said Allison Cartwright. “Ensuring the working class and poor people have access to justice and be able to navigate the court system has been my life’s work. I have represented everyone from children to adults, immigrants, citizens, people in recovery – essentially everyone who has ever needed a second chance. Key to that second chance is a system that is fair, open, and equitable.”
Cartwright currently serves in the Committee for Public Counsel Services’s Public Defenders Division, where she oversees seventy-five public defenders, social workers, and investigators for Suffolk and Norfolk counties. She works daily to ensure that staff have the tools necessary to provide top notch defense, necessary services, and are able to protect fundamental constitutional and human rights.
In recognition of her zealous advocacy, commitment to justice, and formidable career, Attorney Cartwright has been appointed to a number of advisory boards, including Boston’s Police Reform Task Force, the Massachusetts Advisory Board on Probation, and the Governor’s Restorative Justice Advisory Committee. Through her service on these boards, she has shaped criminal justice policies at the city and state level.
Cartwright today also announced that Maggie Van Scoy will spearhead her campaign as campaign manager. Van Scoy brings public service experience, having most recently served as Mayor Michelle Wu’s Office of Neighborhood Services liaison to Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway-Kenmore, and Mission Hill, where she served as the administration’s primary point of contact for area residents and helped facilitate the delivery of core city services across the those neighborhoods.
“I am thrilled to join the Cartwright campaign and have the opportunity to elect someone with such an impressive background in law and public service to this critical position in our judicial system,” said Van Scoy. “To know Allison is to be in awe of her dedication to justice, fairness, and society’s most vulnerable.”
Rounding out the initial campaign team are Attorney Cartwright’s two campaign committee co-chairs: Attorney Keren Goldenberg and Massachusetts State Senator for the Third Suffolk district Lydia Edwards.
“I am so excited that Allison Cartwright is running for Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County. As a courtroom lawyer, I know that the best clerks have litigation and management experience, and Allison has both,” said Attorney Goldenberg. “As Allison‘s colleague and friend, I know that she is organized, respectful of others, and thoughtful. Lawyers, judges, litigants, court staff, and the public will benefit from having her in this position.”
“I can’t think of anyone more qualified or prepared for this job. I have met plenty of lawyers in my life, and am one myself, but Cartwright’s experience and resume is beyond impressive. Not only does she manage attorneys she is educating the next generation of lawyers at Harvard Law School,” said Senator Edwards. “There is something about this position that calls not just for legal experience but for an impartial, apolitical record of dedication to helping people. That’s what Allison has. She has advocated in the courts, provided access to the courts, and now it’s time to let her to work for the courts.”
Additionally, Attorney Cartwright is honored to have former Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Geraldine Hines and civil rights attorney Rashaan Hall serving as members of her growing campaign committee.
The primary election is September 3, 2024.