Supreme Judicial Court Task Force to Review Hiring and Promotion Practices in the Judicial Branch
About the Task Force
On November 18, 2010, the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court announced the establishment of the Task Force on Hiring in the Judicial Branch to undertake a comprehensive review of the hiring and promotion procedures in the Judicial Branch in the wake of the findings of abuse in the hiring and promotion practices of the Probation Department documented in the report of Independent Counsel Paul Ware.
The Justices stated that the Task Force will "make recommendations designed to ensure a fair system with transparent procedures in which the qualifications of an applicant are the sole criterion in hiring and promotion." To enhance public confidence in the integrity of the court system, the Task Force is charged with reviewing the hiring and promotion policies, practices, and procedures of the Probation Department and other court departments within the Judicial Branch.
Reports, Press Releases and Other Related Items
Task Force Reports
- Final Report of the Task Force on Hiring in the Judicial Branch
(December 16, 2011) - Action Plan for Hiring and Promotion of Employees of the Trial Court Recorder, Clerks and Registers of Probate (November 8, 2011)
- Action Plan for Hiring and Promotion of Trial Court Administrative Employees (August 9, 2011)
- Action Plan for Hiring and Promotion of Court Officers and Associate Court Officers (April 25, 2011)
- Action Plan for Reform and Renewal of Probation Department Hiring and Promotion Practices (February 10, 2011)
- Initial Recommendations to the Court (January 19, 2011)
Statements of the Court
- Joint Statement of Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland and Chief Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan (March 16, 2011)
- Statement and Directives of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court Regarding the Hiring and Promotion Practices of the Massachusetts Probation Department (February 24, 2011)
- Statement of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court Relative to the Report of the Independent Counsel (November 18, 2010)
- Statement of Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall and Chief Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan (May 24, 2010)
Press Releases
- Supreme Judicial Court Endorses Final Report of the Task Force on Hiring in the Judicial Branch (January 5, 2012)
- Supreme Judicial Court Task Force Issues Action Plan for Hiring and Promotion of Employees of the Trial Court Recorder, Clerks and Registers of Probate (November 17, 2011)
- Supreme Judicial Court Task Force Issues Action Plan for Hiring and Promotion of Trial Court Administrative Employees (September 8, 2011)
- Supreme Judicial Court Task Force Issues Recommendations on Court Officer Hiring and Promotion (May 6, 2011)
- Supreme Judicial Court Issues Statement Outlining Action Steps on Probation (February 24, 2011)
- Supreme Judicial Court Assessing Task Force Action Plan on Probation Department Reform (February 16, 2011)
- Chief Justice Mulligan Names Dr. Ronald P. Corbett, Jr., Commissioner of Probation for Two-Year Term (January 21, 2011)
- Supreme Judicial Court Appoints Task Force Members to Review Hiring and Promotion Practices in Judicial Branch (December 7, 2010)
- Ware Report to Be Released by the Supreme Judicial Court Today Statement by Justices and Report to Be Posted on SJC Website at 1:30 p.m. (November 18, 2010)
- Ware Report Filed (November 10, 2010)
Other Related Items
- Report of the Independent Counsel Paul F. Ware (November 9, 2010)
Committee Members
Served from November 2010 - present, unless otherwise noted.
Scott Harshbarger (Chair), Senior Counsel in the law firm of Proskauer and former Attorney General.
Randy S. Chapman, partner in the law firm of Chapman & Chapman, PC, from February 2011 - present.
Stephen P. Crosby, founding and current Dean of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at UMass/Boston.
Kathleen Dennehy, former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, from June 2011 - present.
Kathleen M. Donovan, Managing Director of Manpower Business Solutions and also directs Manpower's Global RPO Center of Excellence to promote innovation and sharing of best practices in recruitment process outsourcing.
Ruth Ellen Fitch, President of the
Michael B. Keating, partner and chair of the Litigation Department at Foley Hoag LLP, and served as chair of the Court Management Advisory Board from 2004 to 2010.
William J. Leahy, former Chief Counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services, from November 2010 - February 2011.
Hon. James F. McHugh, Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court since 2001 and formerly a Superior Court Justice.
Susan M. Prosnitz, Executive Director of the
Harry Spence, a lecturer at
Steven H. Wright, Executive Partner for the