Martha Coakley | |
|---|---|
 Coakley in 2014 | |
| 43rdAttorney General of Massachusetts | |
| In office January 17, 2007 – January 21, 2015 | |
| Governor | Deval Patrick Charlie Baker |
| Preceded by | Thomas Reilly |
| Succeeded by | Maura Healey |
| Massachusetts District Attorney for theNorthern District | |
| In office January 3, 1999 – January 17, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Reilly |
| Succeeded by | Gerard Leone |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Martha Mary Coakley (1953-07-14)July 14, 1953 (age 72) |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Thomas O'Connor |
| Education | Williams College (BA) Boston University (JD) |
Martha Mary Coakley[1] (born July 14, 1953) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and former politician who served asAttorney General ofMassachusetts from 2007 to 2015. Prior to serving as Attorney General, she wasDistrict Attorney ofMiddlesex County from 1999 to 2007.
Coakley was elected as Attorney General of Massachusetts in 2006. She was theDemocratic nominee in the2010 special election to fill theUnited States Senate seat long held by fellow DemocratTed Kennedy (and held in the interim byPaul G. Kirk), but was defeated 52% to 47% byRepublicanScott Brown in what was considered a major upset, after a campaign in which her efforts and dedication came under heavy criticism. The loss represented a 22-point decrease in support from Kennedy's last re-election campaign. She was re-elected as Attorney General in 2010.
Coakley ran forGovernor of Massachusetts in2014, winning theDemocratic nomination but losing the general election in another upset to RepublicanCharlie Baker. Coakley was a lobbyist for the e-cigarette companyJuul until June 2022.[2]
Coakley was born inPittsfield, Massachusetts, to Edward J. and Phyllis E. Coakley. Her father was aWorld War II veteran,Korean War veteran, and small business owner. Her mother was a homemaker.[1] When Coakley was one year old, she and her parents moved toNorth Adams. There, she attendedSt. Joseph's School andDrury High School, graduating in June 1971.[1]
Coakley graduatedcum laude with aBachelor of Arts fromWilliams College in 1975 and aJuris Doctor fromBoston University School of Law in 1979. In the summer of 1978, while a law student, Coakley clerked for the law firm of Donovan and O'Connor ofAdams, Massachusetts.[1] After graduating from law school, Coakley began work as an associate at the law firm of Parker, Coulter, Daley & White and later practiced atGoodwin Procter—both inBoston, Massachusetts.[3][4]
She joined the DA's office in 1986 as an Assistant District Attorney in theLowell, Massachusetts, District Court office. A year later, she was invited by theU.S. Justice Department to join its Boston Organized Crime Strike Force as a Special Attorney. Coakley returned to the District Attorney's office in 1989 and was appointed the Chief of the Child Abuse Prosecution Unit two years later.
In 1997, while serving underMiddlesex County, Massachusetts,District AttorneyTom Reilly, she and Gerry Leone led the courtroom prosecution of then 19-year-old English au pairLouise Woodward, who was later convicted in the shaking death of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen ofNewton, Massachusetts.[5]
In 1997, a special election was held for Boston's 16th Suffolk district to replaceJames T. Brett, who was resigning. Five candidates, who all lived in the same Ward 16 neighborhood, including a "thoughtful, but unknown assistant DA named Martha Coakley," entered the race.[6] Coakley lost the race toMarty Walsh, receiving 11.7 percent of the vote.[7]
In December 1997, Coakley resigned her position in order to campaign for District Attorney in Middlesex County.
In 2001, Coakley successfully lobbied Acting GovernorJane Swift to deny clemency toGerald Amirault, a defendant in theFells Acres day care sexual abuse trial, whom many regarded as a victim ofday care sex abuse hysteria. Clemency for Amirault had been recommended unanimously by the Massachusetts Parole Board.[8] Amirault's co-accused mother and sister had already been released from custody.[9]Wall Street Journal editorial board memberDorothy Rabinowitz cites Coakley's pursuit of the case despite lack of corroborating evidence as an example of questionable judgment on Coakley's part.[9]
Coakley's actions as District Attorney in the sexual abuse case of a 23-month-old girl in 2005 have drawn sharp criticism. Coakley, who oversaw thegrand jury for the case, did not immediately indict Keith Winfield, aSomerville police officer. On August 1, 2006, after a criminal complaint was threatened to be filed by Larry Frisoli, attorney for the victim's single mother and the Republican candidate running against Coakley for Attorney General, she indicted Winfield.[10] She requested for him to be released without cash bail. The District Attorney succeeding Coakley subsequently secured a conviction. Winfield was given two life sentences for the crime. Coakley later defended her actions by saying she acted appropriately with the evidence that was available at the time.[11] As of 2012, film producer Steve Audette was making a documentary about Winfield's prosecution, conviction, and continued assertion of innocence;[12] Audette was denied access to recordings of the trial in March 2013.[13]
Coakley was electedMassachusetts Attorney General in the2006 general election as aDemocrat, defeating Republican Larry Frisoli with 73 percent of the vote. She was sworn in on January 17, 2007. Coakley became the first woman to serve as Attorney General in Massachusetts.
During theAqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare in January 2007, Coakley was widely quoted in the press defending the reaction of Boston's emergency services.[14] Small electronic signs advertising a cartoon had been mistaken for bombs; Massachusetts authorities halted traffic on two bridges and closed the Charles River before realizing the signs were harmless. Coakley defended the precautions because the LED signs had looked suspicious: "It had a very sinister appearance, it had a battery behind it, and wires."[15]
Both of those accused of putting up the signs which caused the bomb scare were given plea bargains, received community service and apologized publicly.[16]
In May 2007, Coakley testified before the Massachusetts State Legislature in support of the passage of a"buffer zone" law that created a 35-foot (11 m) buffer around entrances and driveways of reproductive health care facilities that offer abortion services.[17][18] The law was signed into effect by Governor Deval Patrick on November 13, 2007, and was subsequently challenged by opponents and overturned by a unanimous decision of the Supreme Court as a violation of theFirst Amendment.[19][20]
The next month, she signed aGuide to Consumer Credit and activated a Consumer Complaint and Information Hotline for helping people in financial difficulties.[21]
In September 2008, Coakley worked withApple Inc. and theNational Federation of the Blind to have Apple redesign the populariTunes software so it would comply with the federalAmericans with Disabilities Act, as well as the Massachusetts Equal Rights Act.[22]
In November 2008, Coakley unsuccessfully argued the case ofMelendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts before theUnited States Supreme Court.[23]
On February 5, 2009, she led an 18-state coalition, as well as theCorporation Counsel for theCity of New York and theCity Solicitor ofBaltimore,[24] urging theEnvironmental Protection Agency to take action in response to the 2007U.S. Supreme Court ruling inMassachusetts v. EPA. Though the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA did have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases under theClean Air Act, the Agency had yet to make an official decision on whether it believes that greenhouse gas emissions pose dangers to public health or welfare.[25]
Coakley inherited litigation of the fatal 2006Big Dig ceiling collapse from outgoing Attorney General Tom Reilly in 2007. On March 26, 2009, she settled the final lawsuit pertaining to the incident.[26] Through eight lawsuits attached to the incident, Coakley's office recovered $610.625 million on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.[27]
Coakley declined to conduct a criminal investigation of an aide toThomas M. Menino, Mayor of Boston, for allegedly violating laws regarding the destruction of public e-mail records, describing the request as politically motivated.[28]
On July 8, 2009, Coakleyfiled a suit[29] challenging the constitutionality of theDefense of Marriage Act. The suit claims that Congress "overstepped its authority, undermined states' efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people."[30] Massachusetts is the first state to challenge the legislation.[31]
In 2009, Coakley won settlements of $60 million fromGoldman Sachs[32] and $10 million from Fremont Investment & Loan[33] for their abuse of subprime loans and lending.[34]
In 2010, Coakley helped draft a Massachusetts law regulating obscenity on the internet. In a decision celebrated by civil rights advocates, the law was overturned by a federal judge after a coalition of booksellers and website publishers sued, claiming the new law was unconstitutional and would hold criminally liable anyone who operates a website containing nudity or sexual material, including subjects such as art or even health information such as pregnancy or birth control. They said the law failed to distinguish between open websites and obscene material. Federal Judge Rya W. Zobel stated that the plaintiffs demonstrated "without question" that the law violated the First Amendment by infringing on and inhibiting free speech.[35]
During Coakley's tenure as Attorney General, misconduct at Massachusetts' crime laboratories led to the reexamination of tens of thousands of drug convictions. ChemistAnnie Dookhan was accused of forging reports and tampering with samples to produce desired results.[36] Similarly, Sonja Farak was accused of tampering with the evidence she was tasked with analyzing by using it to get high herself.[37] The actions of both women, who acted independently, resulted in tens of thousands of drug counts being dismissed, the largest single mass dismissal of criminal cases in U.S. history.[38][39]How to Fix a Drug Scandal is an Americantrue crimedocumentary miniseries that was released onNetflix on April 1, 2020, that was created byErin Lee Carr, who followed the aftereffects of this notorious case.[40]How to Fix a Drug Scandal depicts the role of Martha Coakley, who was accused of political cover up.[41]
Martha Coakley finishedfourth with 12% of the primary vote in her first run for office against future Boston Mayor and US Secretary of LaborMarty Walsh (33%), neighborhood activist Charles Tevnan (16%) and Edward Regal (10%).
Martha Coakley won the Democratic primary (48%) againstMichael A. Sullivan (28%) and Timothy Flaherty (25%) and coasted to a 71–29% general election win against Republican Lee Johnson.
Martha Coakley was unopposed in both the primary and the general election.
Martha Coakley was unopposed in the Democratic primary. She won the General election (73%-27%) against Republican Larry Frisoli.[42]
On September 1, 2009, Coakley was the first candidate to take out nomination papers to run in a special election to succeed the lateEdward M. Kennedy in theUnited States Senate in thespecial election in 2010.[43] Two days later, on September 3, Coakley officially announced her candidacy on her website.[44] She won the Democratic primary on December 8, 2009.[45] Her opponents were RepublicanScott Brown and LibertarianJoseph L. Kennedy (no relation to theKennedy family). Coakley was endorsed byThe Boston Globe on January 14, 2010.[46]In her last television debate January 11, 2010, at theUniversity of Massachusetts Boston, when asked about the prospects of victory inAfghanistan, Coakley stated, "I think we have done what we are going to be able to do in Afghanistan. I think that we should plan anexit strategy. Yes. I'm not sure there is a way to succeed. If the goal was and the mission in Afghanistan was to go in because we believed that theTaliban was giving harbor to terrorists, we supported that. I supported that. They're gone. They're not there anymore. They're in, apparentlyYemen, they're inPakistan. Let's focus our efforts on whereAl Qaeda is." This statement drew criticism fromScott Brown and his supporters, includingRudy Giuliani.[47][48][49][50]
Coakley committed a number of gaffes during the campaign. When criticized for leaving the state for a Washington fundraiser instead of campaigning, Coakley responded by saying "As opposed to standing outsideFenway Park? In the cold? Shaking hands?"[51]Barack Obama, in reflecting on his presidency, cited this precise comment as a defining moment for his presidency and forhealthcare in America as a whole, due to how it reflected Coakley's inept handling of a race that should have been easily winnable.[52] TheBoston Herald said of the move that "laying low in the final weeks of a truncated election is unusual – and a luxury that only a very confident candidate could afford."[53] Coakley also referred toRed Sox starpitcher and Brown supporterCurt Schilling as "anotherYankee fan," making her a target of derision.[54][55]
Brown made frequent references to Coakley acting like she was entitled to the seat merely by dint of being the candidate of the Democratic Party; famously, he said during one of the debates that "it's not Kennedy's seat, and it's not the Democrats' seat; it's the people's seat".[56]
Just ten days before Election Day,Nate Silver's famed poll aggregator and predictor538.com still considered a Brown victory to be wildly unlikely, with a post rhetorically asking "Might Coakley Lose?"[57] Six short days later, polling data had shifted to the point of admitting "It's a Tossup"[58] before putting Brown as an overwhelming 3:1 favorite prior to the election. Afterwards, Silver said that "Martha Coakley, needless to say, was not a good candidate and did not run a good campaign."[59]
Coakley admitted to making a mistake while filing the financial disclosure forms for her Senate run, claiming to have no personal assets when she had an account under her husband's name with over $200,000 and a personalIRA containing approximately $12,000.[60]
On January 19, 2010, Coakley was defeated by Brown 52% to 47% in the special election. Brown received 1,168,107 votes, Coakley received 1,058,682 votes, and Joseph L. Kennedy received 22,237 votes.[61]
Coakley successfully ran for reelection, defeating her main challenger, Republican nominee Jim McKenna.[62][63]
On September 15, 2013, WCVB-TV learned of Coakley's intention to run for the Massachusetts governorship when incumbent DemocratDeval Patrick retired in 2014. Coakley was set to formally announce her entry into the race the following Monday. She won the Democratic nomination on September 9, 2014.[64] On November 4, 2014, she was narrowly defeated in the general election for governor by RepublicanCharlie Baker,[65] who was endorsed by theBoston Globe despite theGlobe's having endorsed Coakley four years prior in her Senate campaign.[66]
After the election, theGlobe wrote that Coakley had been "redeemed, even in defeat," saying that she had been "haunted" by her failed bid for the U.S. Senate four years earlier and had been a "relentless, and frequently terrific, campaigner. Coakley worked her heart out meeting voters across the state. She arrived at the rationale for her candidacy that eluded her four years ago: She had proven she cares about the state's most vulnerable citizens." TheGlobe added that "this person of remarkable accomplishments, grace, and resilience looks to be leaving public life. That's a big loss."[67]
From 2015 through early 2019, Coakley worked forFoley Hoag, a Boston-basedlaw firm, as a lawyer andlobbyist.[68] While at the firm, Coakley represented the fantasy sports websiteDraftKings and student-loan firmNavient when state governments were examining the practices of these industries.[69]
In April 2019, it was announced that Coakley had taken a full-time role withelectronic cigarette makerJuul on their government affairs team.[68] As a former attorney general, lobbying attorneys general for the vaping industry has called into question the ethics of Coakley's work for Juul, a leader in the electronic cigarette industry accused of marketing addictive nicotine products to youths.[70][71]
Coakley returned to Foley Hoag after her stint at Juul, and then in July 2025 joined the Zucker Law Group.[72]
Coakley resides inMedford, Massachusetts. She is married to retired police Deputy Superintendent Thomas F. O'Connor Jr.[73][74]
The issue presented in this case is whether a judge erred in denying a documentary film maker's motion for access to an audiotape "room recording" of a trial made by a court reporter where an official transcript of the trial had been prepared and provided to the film maker.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Attorney General of Massachusetts 2007–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forAttorney General of Massachusetts 2006, 2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromMassachusetts (Class 1) 2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Massachusetts 2014 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
