Mass. judge who wrote gay marriage ruling retires

The Massachusetts chief justice who wrote the state's landmark ruling legalizing gay marriage has announced she's stepping down.

Chief Justice Margaret Marshall said Wednesday she will retire in October to spend more time with her husband, former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis. The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner retired in 2001 and was recently found to have Parkinson's disease.

Marshall is a native of South Africa. She was first appointed to the bench in 1996 after four years as general counsel and vice president of Harvard University. She became chief justice three years later.

She was criticized as a judicial activist by gay marriage opponents after writing the 4-3 decision that made Massachusetts the first state to legalize the practice.