Ruth Ida Abrams (December 26, 1930 – September 12, 2019) was the first female justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, where she served from 1978 to 2000, and the first female appellate justice in Massachusetts.
She went on to graduate from Harvard Law School[5] as one of approximately a dozen women in the Class of 1956.
She was an assistant district attorney for Middlesex County (MA), where she helped prosecute Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler"[1] and also served with the State Attorney General's Office.
[1] Abrams was born into a Jewish family with a strong legal tradition.
[7] Justice Abrams was noted for being a mentor to countless women attorneys, many of whom followed her to the bench.