Maria Lopez (born September 12, 1953) is a Cuban-American former judge and a former television jurist on the syndicated court show, Judge Maria Lopez. Judge Lopez made legal history as the first Latina appointed to the bench in Massachusetts when she was selected as a District Court Judge by Governor Michael Dukakis. Judge Lopez continued to make her mark in history as the first Latina to be appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court in 1993. Lopez served as a Superior Court judge and as an assistant attorney general in civil rights division of the office of the Massachusetts Attorney General.