The chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, who was the keynote speaker at Brandeis' 54th annual commencement ceremony in May, apologized on Friday for a remark she made at the ceremony, the Associated Press reported.Margaret Marshall, who authored the landmark November 2003 decision to permit gay marriage in the state, apologized for a remark she made during the ceremony about "red states." Her commencement speech in May opened with a comment on the blue and white balloons hanging from the ceiling that later rained on graduates.

"I've never been in a convention center that has balloons of this particular color," she said. "I'm looking forward to no red states here."

Friday, Marshall said the comment was "an unconsidered, spontaneous attempt to connect with the exuberant celebratory feeling in the audience, reflecting the balloons I had seen," the Associated Press reported.

The term "red states" refers to Republican-leaning states.

"I did not intend to say anything of a political nature," Marshall told the Associated Press. "The comment did not reflect what I had intended."

Marshall's apology came in the wake of a citizen complaint filed against her with the Commission on Judicial Conduct. However, her attorney, Hugh Scott, emphasized that the commission did not bring any charges against Marshall, the Associated Press reported.

At her commencement speech in May, Marshall warned of an "assault on an independent judiciary," expressing wariness of political influence in judicial decisions.

"I worry when judicial independence is seen as a problem to be solved and not a value to be cherished," Marshall said at the speech.