Ballotpedia has tracked two state supreme court justice vacancies for 2024.
The first state supreme court justice to confirm her retirement in 2024 was Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice Elspeth Cypher, who announced in June 2023 that she plans to retire on January 12, 2024. The second to confirm retirement in 2024 was Justice Keith G. Kautz, who announced in October 2023 that he is retiring from the Wyoming Supreme Court effective March 26, 2024.
Cypher was appointed by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) in 2017. Cypher’s replacement will be Gov. Maura Healey’s (D) first nomination to the seven-member court. Healey’s nominee must be confirmed by the Massachusetts Governor’s Council before taking office. Currently, all justices on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court were appointed by Baker, who left office earlier this year. Following her resignation from the court, Cypher said she would continue her teaching career, accepting a position as a law professor at Boston College Law School.
Kautz was appointed by Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R) in 2015 and is retiring a day before reaching Wyoming’s mandatory retirement age of 70. His replacement will be Gov. Mark Gordon’s (R) second nomination to the five-member court. All five members currently serving on the Wyoming Supreme Court have been appointed by a Republican governor.
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