AYER — While standing at the bench of a packed Ayer District Court on Thursday, Judge Tejal Mehta referenced a quote from writer C.S. Lewis: “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
Mehta told the crowd the quote was spoken to her recently by a man on probation for a criminal conviction as he stood before her in court. According to Mehta, the man used the quote to express the revelation he experienced following his conviction.
“His probation had a positive impact on him,” Mehta said. “He had a turning point and realized he had a purpose to fulfill and that purpose was to treat people with compassion, kindness and empathy.
“That is the theme of what we do here in Ayer,” she added. “Help people see the potential in themselves — to start where they are, and change their endings.”
It’s a theme Mehta plans to keep in place, having recently been selected to serve as the latest first justice of the Ayer District Court.
Mehta and a crowd of judges, court employees, law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys and various local leaders were at the Ayer courthouse on Thursday to celebrate Mehta’s swearing-in as the court’s new presiding justice.
“I’m confident that with her leadership … that the best is yet to come for the Ayer District Court,” said Judge Stacey Fortes, chief justice of the District Court, who selected Mehta for the position and swore her in during the ceremony.
Among those in attendance were several members of Mehta’s family, including her 14-year-old daughter, Mena Sheth, who is one of the three children shared by Mehta and her husband, Ketan Sheth.
Mena, who was among the ceremony speakers, quoted U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when discussing her mother.
“RBG said, ‘Fight for things you care about, but do so in a way that will lead others to join you,’” Mena said. “My mom is the exact embodiment of this quote. Through her kindness and outgoing personality, she encourages people to share her understanding of the world. Being a judge has given her the ability to see and do what’s best and I can’t think of anyone better to have that responsibility.”
Judge Margaret Guzman, who has served as the first justice of the Ayer District Court, was also in attendance for Thursday’s event after making national news on Wednesday.
With Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a 48-48 tie vote, the U.S. Senate confirmed Guzman to the federal bench as a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Massachusetts. Guzman will become the first Hispanic judge to serve as a lifetime judge on the court.
When introduced during Mehta’s swearing-in ceremony, Guzman received a standing ovation.
After the event, Guzman described her confirmation as among the proudest moments of her life, adding, “It makes me wish my mother was still here to see.”
Guzman, who served the Ayer District Court for five years, praised the selection of Mehta as the court’s first justice, describing her as someone “who will preserve the pattern of treating people fairly.”
“She makes very hard decisions that have to be made,” Guzman said. “She doesn’t ridicule anybody, she’s thoughtful, she tells people what her decisions are about. She’s what you want a judge to be. To make the right decisions, but to do it in a way that when a person leaves, they don’t have to like what happened, but at least they understand what happened.”
Mehta, a resident of Concord, started her career in civil work, before becoming a prosecutor with the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, where she served for more than a decade. She went on to open her own practice, becoming a public defender, before pursuing a position on the bench as a circuit judge.
“As a lawyer you can help people, but you can only help them to a point,” Mehta said. “As a judge, you can do so much more and get to the root of issues and talk to people in such a way that really gets through to them.”
Mehta’s goal to focus on one place and to become the first justice of the Ayer District Court rested in a desire to make a positive impact on the community she has grown close to.
“I have seen the same hopes and despairs in every court I have sat in as a traveling judge,” Mehta said. “But when you are the first justice, then you can really get to know the community and make a real impact.”
Ayer District Court serves Ashby, Ayer, Boxboro, Dunstable, Groton, Littleton, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend, Westford and Devens.
Follow Aaron Curtis on Twitter @aselahcurtis
