Governor Patrick has chief justice candidate in mind

Governor Deval Patrick said Wednesday he has "a candidate in mind" to replace retiring Chief Justice Margaret Marshall on the Supreme Judicial Court and will make the announcement after the election.

"I have some reluctance to do it before the election because I don't want the candidate to be turned into campaign fodder," Patrick told reporters after participating in a debate.

"I'm down to a short list," the governor said. "I have a little bit more vetting to do. I have a candidate in mind, but I want to let that process finish."

Marshall is perhaps best known as author of the seven-member court's 2003 Goodrich decision, which made Massachusetts the first state to legalize gay marriage. In July, she said she wanted to retire by the end of October so she could tend to her husband, former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis, who has Parkinson's disease.

The Boston Globe and Boston Herald, both citing anonymous sources, reported that the search has been narrowed to six finalists: Justices Margot Botsford, Ralph Gants and Roderick Ireland; U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris; state Appeals Court Justice Fernande Duffly; and Superior Court Judge Barbara Dortch-Okara.

Dortch-Okara has been in the news lately as she oversees a lawsuit filed by one of Patrick's re-election opponents, independent Timothy Cahill. Cahill alleges four former campaign aides conspired to undercut his candidacy and engineer the defection of Cahill's running mate, who now supports Republican candidate Charles Baker.

Ireland is the court's first and only black justice, but at age 65, he could only serve as chief for five years before he hits the mandatory retirement age of 70. Botsford and Gants are Patrick appointees.

Patrick wouldn't say if he's going to elevate a sitting justice to chief justice - the person who runs the court, decides which justice writes an opinion and oversees the state appellate and trial court systems.

If Patrick were to nominate a sitting justice, he would get to pick the associate justice's replacement.

Any appointment would have to be approved by the Governor's Council.