--- title: "Tina W. Cafaro | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/tina-w-cafaro" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-07-26" --- # Tina W. Cafaro Massachusetts District Court · Associate Justice ## Profile - Court: Massachusetts District Court - State: Massachusetts - Role: Associate Justice - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### remote hearings Scope: courtwide Massachusetts District Court lists specified non-evidentiary, scheduling, status, civil-management, and other proceedings that may be held remotely unless the presiding judge or clerk-magistrate orders otherwise. Evidence excerpt: The following events may be held remotely unless otherwise ordered by a judge or clerk-magistrate [Joint Standing Order 1-26: Order on remote court hearings](https://www.mass.gov/districtmunicipal-court-rules/joint-standing-order-1-26-order-on-remote-court-hearings) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### remote recording Scope: courtwide Photographing, recording, or electronically transmitting a Massachusetts District Court remote or hybrid hearing requires prior authorization from the supervising judge or clerk-magistrate. Evidence excerpt: No person shall take any photographs, or make any recording or transmission by electronic means, of a remote or hybrid court hearing, without prior authorization from the judge or clerk magistrate [Joint Standing Order 1-26: Order on remote court hearings](https://www.mass.gov/districtmunicipal-court-rules/joint-standing-order-1-26-order-on-remote-court-hearings) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### recording and photography Scope: statewide In Massachusetts courts, photography, recording, or electronic transmission in a courtroom or related judicial space requires prior authorization from the judge or magistrate supervising that place, subject to Rule 1:19's separate provisions for registered news media. Evidence excerpt: No person shall take any photographs, or make any recording or transmission by electronic means, in any courtroom, hearing room, office, chambers or lobby of a judge or magistrate without prior authorization [Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:19: Electronic access to the courts](https://www.mass.gov/supreme-judicial-court-rules/supreme-judicial-court-rule-119-electronic-access-to-the-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/district-court-judges) - [Official roster](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/district-court-judges) - [Massachusetts Court System official judicial roster](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/district-court-judges) - [Joint Standing Order 1-26: Order on remote court hearings](https://www.mass.gov/districtmunicipal-court-rules/joint-standing-order-1-26-order-on-remote-court-hearings) - [Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:19: Electronic access to the courts](https://www.mass.gov/supreme-judicial-court-rules/supreme-judicial-court-rule-119-electronic-access-to-the-courts) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/tina-w-cafaro", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/tina-w-cafaro", "name": "Tina W. 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Cafaro in February 2022 for the position of Associate Justice of the Massachusetts District Court, alongside Jaclyn R. Greenhalgh - Unanimously confirmed in March 2022 and sworn in on April 13, 2022, at Western New England University’s Rivers Memorial Hall, presided over by retired Judge Mary E. Hurley - In 1996, she joined the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office as an Assistant District Attorney - Began her legal career in 1995 as a clerk to Justice Kent B. Smith of the Massachusetts Appeals Court - In her own words, Cafaro said she was “deeply humbled and honored” by the appointment, expressing gratitude for her two decades at WNE School of Law and her excitement to contribute to the justice system ### Education - B.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1992 and her J.D. from Western New England University School of Law in 1995. ### Additional information - She has also held the role of a Special Assistant District Attorney for Hampden County, instructed the Massachusetts Police Training Committee, Massachusetts State Police, and Trial Court Academies since 1999, and has been active in the Hampden County Bar Association’s Education Committee - Beyond her legal and academic work, she has been a basketball and lacrosse coach with the East Longmeadow Youth Sports Program for nearly two decades and has served on the East Longmeadow Basketball Association’s board ## Published courtroom rules ### Shared court rules - [Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:19: Electronic access to the courts](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-20acbd9da185f40e1f10b2b2) — Scope is limited to the court class in the source claim. Shared court context only; case-type restrictions, exceptions, later amendments and case orders apply. This is not a personal preference or a complete rules inventory. [Official source](https://www.mass.gov/supreme-judicial-court-rules/supreme-judicial-court-rule-119-electronic-access-to-the-courts). Collected 2026-07-26.