Margaret H. Marshall
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Margaret Hilary Marshall (born September 1, 1944) is an American lawyer and jurist who has been Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court since 1999.
Marshall was born in Newcastle, South Africa, the daughter of a steel executive. She attended University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and was a leader of students who opposed the racist apartheid system. Marshall led a student organization for three years called the National Union of South African Students, which was dedicated to ending oppressive minority rule and achieving equality for all South Africans. According to Marshall, "There was no access to justice in South Africa...There were a few courageous barristers who agreed to represent people charged with political crimes, but, by and large, if you were a black South African, you had no justice. The death penalty was imposed in vastly disproportionate numbers. Many of the offenses were applicable to black South Africans only."[1]. She moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1964 and attended Harvard University and Yale Law School.
From 1976-1989, she was an associate and a partner in private practice at the Boston law firm of Csaplar & Bok. From 1989-1992, she was a partner in the Boston law firm of Choate, Hall & Stewart. Also from 1991-1992, she was President of the Boston Bar Association, the oldest bar association in the United States. From 1992-1996, she was General Counsel to Harvard University.
Marshall was appointed to be an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1996 by Republican Governor William F. Weld. She was named as Chief Justice in September, 1999 by Republican Governor Paul Cellucci, to begin her term on October 14, 1999. She is the second woman to serve on the Supreme Judicial Court, the oldest appellate court in the Western Hemisphere, and the first to serve as Chief Justice in its more than 300 year history.
In the course of her term, she has written over 100 opinions. Marshall wrote the controversial decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that declared that Massachusetts Constitution did not permit the state to deny citizens the right to same-sex marriage. That decision was made by a 4-3 vote of the justices. A group named the Article 8 Alliance has been formed to seek the ouster of all four justices who concurred in that decision. As there is no recall process under Massachusetts law, and there is little support for this in the Massachusetts legislature, it is unlikely that any of the justices targeted by the Article 8 Alliance will be ousted.
In 1984, she married former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis. It was her second marriage.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Massachusetts Judicial Profiles, [2]
| Preceded by: ' |
Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court 1996 – October 14, 1999 |
Succeeded by: ' |
| Preceded by: Herbert P. Wilkins |
Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court October 14, 1999 – present |
Succeeded by: Incumbent |
