Ralph Gants, chief justice of Massachusetts supreme court, dies at 65

The chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has died at 65, his colleagues announced on Monday.

“It is with deep sadness that the Associate Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court announce the death of Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants. Our hearts and prayers are with his family. We have no further information at this time,” the court’s associate justices said, according to a Boston NBC affiliate.

The justices did not offer details on the cause of Gant’s death. Earlier this month, he announced he had had two stents inserted after a heart attack, but said that he expected to resume his full duties. Gants was appointed to the state’s top appellate court in January 2009 by then-Gov. Deval Patrick (D). In 2014, Patrick swore him in as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s 37^th chief justice.

A graduate of Harvard Law School and former assistant U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, Gants was appointed to the state’s Superior Court by then-Gov. Bill Weld (R) in 1997.

Gants and Justice Barbara Lenk were the only justices on the seven-justice Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court not appointed by current Gov. Charles Baker (R). Lenk will retire in December when she turns 70, the mandatory retirement age for justices. Another justice will not reach the mandatory retirement age until 2029.  

–Updated on Sept. 16 at 11:20 a.m.