Patrick says next SJC chief justice must have 'touch'

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick said today that he wants the next state Supreme Judicial Court chief to have “touch,” calling to mind President Obama’s earlier stated criteria that federal justices should have "empathy."

"The law has to make sense in the lives of real people," Patrick said during a conference call from Kuwait, where he is visiting troops.

Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall, who wrote the ruling legalizing gay marriage in 2003, announced yesterday that she will retire in the fall.

Patrick said he wants someone “in her spirit and her example” who has her “integrity, commitment to the rule of law, and commitment to human rights.” In addition to a command of the text and history of the Constitution, that person should also “understand how people really live their lives," he said.