Local clerk magistrate approved as court justice

Clerk-magistrate at Dukes County District Court Liza Williamson was unanimously approved to become an associate justice following a vote on Wednesday. 

Members of the Massachusetts Governor’s Council, after pressing Williamson for about an hour of questioning, gave praise to her dedication and to the fairness she has shown defendants and attorneys throughout the two decades she’s served at the Island court.

“She’s an excellent choice,” said Joseph Ferreira, district councilor representing a district that includes the Island at Wednesday’s hearing. “She has the support of everyone I know. She’s done an outstanding job.” 

Ferreira also noted that Williamson is the only Island local to become a judge that he is aware of.

Gov. Maura Healey nominated the local magistrate for the associate justice position last month.

For her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Williamson said that she would be committed to being fair and compassionate as a judge. 

“If I am confirmed, I will take with me to the bench the compassion, empathy, work ethic, and knowledge my life experiences have given me,” she told the governor’s council. “I will not ask, ‘What have you done?’ I will ask ‘How did you get here?’ and I will be committed to the fair, respectful, and dignified treatment of every person who enters our court seeking justice.” 

Williamson said that she spent time growing up in both Duxbury and the Vineyard, both areas with a disparity of wealth. She was raised by a single mother who taught her the importance of working hard. One anecdote she shared — her mother hitchhiked to work in Boston, and used money provided for commuting on a washer and dryer. From her father, she learned to use a little “elbow grease,” and could fix a carburetor on a Harley Davidson-at age 8. 

Williamson graduated from Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School before going to UMass Amherst and then Suffolk Law School in Boston. She interned at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, and then accepted a job as assistant district attorney with the Middlesex DA. There she handled juvenile cases, where she learned to appreciate the struggles that many families go through. Williamson said that she worked to divert juveniles away from the justice system during her time as assistant district attorney.

After her experience in Middlesex, she returned to the Vineyard and opened a practice as a civil liberties and criminal defense attorney. She has learned that many end up in the court system because of substance use and mental health disorders, and sometimes just because of one bad decision. One of the prouder moments she noted was recently seeing the first class of the new Island recovery court graduate.

“It is crucial that the district court is a place that people are treated with dignity, respect, and compassion,” she said. 

At Wednesday’s hearing, Williamson also had the support of her peers and colleagues. Island attorney Rob Moriarty was among them. He said that he has brought hundreds if not thousands of clients before the court while Williamson was clerk-magistrate.

“She has treated each one the same — with dignity, respect, and fairness,” Moriarty said. “But she wasn’t afraid to cut breaks and work out resolutions that were fair.” He said that Williamson would explain her reasoning in a thoughtful and careful way that by the end of the process had many defendants thanking her.

Rep. Thomas Moakley, who was an assistant district attorney for the Cape and Islands and worked in the Edgartown District Court, also had praise for Williamson. 

“As clerk-magistrate, Liza was the face of the Edgartown District Court, personally helping lawyers and nonlawyers alike to have their cases heard efficiently and fairly,” Moakley said. “She will be a great asset to the bench in our region, and greatly missed in the clerk’s office. I applaud the governor’s and Councilor Joe Ferreira’s support of local lawyers becoming local judges.”