Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg of the Rhode Island Supreme Court plans to retire on March 27 after serving almost 30 years on the state’s top court.
McKenna Goldberg informed Gov. Dan McKee of her decision in a letter dated Wednesday, the same day as her 75th birthday.
“I do not do so lightly,” she wrote. “It is only after careful thought and deep reflection that I have come to the conclusion that after a lifetime of public service, now is the appropriate time for my service to the judiciary and the people of Rhode Island to come to an end.”
McKenna Goldberg noted that she was just the third woman to join the state Supreme Court when Gov. Lincoln Almond elevated her from Superior Court in 1997.
“I have strived to honor the rule of law in every case that has come before me,” she wrote in a letter to McKee, “always mindful of the good of the court, the role of a jurist and the parties who are entitled to a fair and impartial judge and a just result based on the facts and the law.”
In a statement, Gov. McKee said McKenna Goldberg “served Rhode Island with integrity, wisdom, and an unwavering commitment to justice. She has had a lasting impact on the Bar, not only for the numerous decisions she authored but also for the extraordinary mentorship she provided to her clerks, many of whom have now become judges themselves.”
A Supreme Court shakeup
McKenna Goldberg’s retirement marks the first change to the state’s top court since 2021, when Melissa A. Long and Erin Lynch Prata joined the panel after being nominated by Gov. Gina Raimondo.
Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell was appointed to the court in 2003. William P. Robinson joined the court in 2004.
The Supreme Court is the state’s court of last resort. To fill a vacancy, the state Judicial Nominating Commission publicly submits three to five names to the governor, who then appoints a new justice from among them. The appointee must be approved by members of both the state Senate and House.
The process of using the JNC was adopted after a series of court scandals in the 1980s and 1990s and it was meant to depoliticize judicial selections. Former state lawmakers and legislative staffers, however, continue to win appointments as judges and magistrates.
McKenna Goldberg is married to one of Rhode Island’s best-known lobbyists: Robert Goldberg, whose clients last year included IGT and its affiliates, CVS Health, Brown University Health, FedEx, Discover Newport, and the RI Liquor Operators Collaborative.
A former Westerly town solicitor, McKenna Goldberg, was nominated to the state Superior Court by Gov. Ed DiPrete in 1990.
In the book Secrets & Scandals: Reforming Rhode Island 1986-2006, former Common Cause of Rhode Island executive director H. Philip West Jr. called the Superior Court judgeship a reward for how Robert Goldberg, then the state Senate GOP leader, helped John J. Bevilacqua – the son of a former chief justice – win de facto control of the chamber.
According to her court biography, McKenna Goldberg was an honors graduate among the first class of women at Providence College in 1973 and she graduated with honors from Suffolk University Law School in Boston.
Praise for decades on the bench
Tributes flowed as word of McKenna Goldberg’s announcement spread.
“Justice Goldberg will go down in history as a true luminary in her field,” House Speaker Joe Shekarchi and Senate President Val Lawson said in a joint statement. “Widely respected for her tough but fair-minded approach on the bench for the past 36 years, including nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, she dispensed justice thoughtfully and compassionately. We join all Rhode Islanders in wishing her a joyful and fulfilling retirement.”
Kim Ahern, one of four Democratic candidates for state attorney general, said in a statement, “I was fortunate to begin my legal career as a law clerk to Justice Goldberg, and I am proud to be among the many lawyers and judges in Rhode Island who consider themselves ‘Goldberg-trained.’ She set the highest standards for legal excellence, integrity, and public service. Justice Goldberg has also been an advocate and mentor for a generation of women lawyers who have followed in her footsteps.”
In his statement, Attorney General Peter Neronha said, “The Honorable Maureen McKenna Goldberg is renowned in the Rhode Island legal community, and beyond, as a force for good. Her storied career is one reserved for those with the highest acumen and understanding of what it means to serve the people of our state. In all her wisdom, Justice Goldberg penned many important and influential decisions in her 35 years on the bench, ensuring her legacy here will outlive all of us.”
