Barbara Lenk

Barbara A. Lenk (born December 2, 1950) is an American attorney and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. On April 4, 2011, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick nominated her to that position and she was confirmed by the Governor's Council on May 4, 2011. She took the oath of office on June 8, 2011.

Early life and education
Justice Lenk was born in Queens, New York. Her parents were a bookbinder and a housekeeper. Her first language was Polish. She received a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Fordham University in 1972, a Doctor of Philosophy in political philosophy from Yale University in 1978, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1979.

Career
Upon graduation from law school, she joined the Boston law firm of Brown, Rudnick, Freed & Gesmer and was a partner there for six years. Her practice focused on civil litigation, with a specialty in First Amendment issues.

Judicial service
In 1993, Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, a Republican, named her to the state's Superior Court. She served there until Weld appointed her to the Appeals Court, where she began her service on June 20, 1995. When nominated to serve on the Supreme Judicial Court, Justice Lenk was the longest serving member of the Appeals Court.

Legal Challenge to Pledge of Allegiance
In May 2014, the Supreme Judicial Court unanimously rejected a legal challenge to a Massachusetts law requiring the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. The court ruled that the inclusion of the words "under God" did not violate the rights of atheists because, in the court's view, reciting the pledge "is a fundamentally patriotic exercise, not a religious one."

In a separate concurring opinion, Lenk explained that she agreed with the outcome of the court's decision because the plaintiffs challenging the state law "did not successfully allege that their children receive negative treatment" as a result of their decision not to recite the words "under God," or that their children had been reduced to "second-class citizen[]" status because of their beliefs. However, Lenk also wrote that "should future plaintiffs demonstrate that the distinction created by the pledge as currently written has engendered bullying or differential treatment, I would leave open the possibility that the equal rights amendment [of the Massachusetts state constitution] might provide a remedy.”

Other Notable Cases
In 2017, Justice Lenk found that the federal Stored Communications Act did not prevent the personal representatives of a deceased person from accessing his emails. In July 2017, Lenk reported to the court the case in which it unanimously held that the commonwealth's law enforcement could not hold a prisoner solely on the authority of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.

Retirement
Lenk announced her retirement from the court, initially effective August 17, 2020, but she later delayed her retirement to December 1, 2020, one day before she turned 70. During Lenk's last week sitting for oral arguments, fellow Justice Frank Gaziano praised her for her "intellectual honesty" and for being "faithful to the law," saying that "Justice Lenk's contributions are impactful and will be long remembered."

Personal life
Justice Lenk has served on the board of directors of the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association, as chair of the Board of Editors of the Boston Bar Journal, and as a member of the Judicial Administration Council of the Massachusetts Bar Association. She is a Trustee of Western New England University, where she chairs the academic affairs committee, and a member of the Boston Inn of Court. Lenk serves on the board of directors for Kerem Shalom in Concord, Massachusetts.

Lenk is a lesbian. She married her wife, attorney Debra Krupp, following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts in 2004. They have two adopted children. She is the first openly gay member of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.