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Complaint Filed Against Chief Justice Margaret Marshall About Her 'Judicial Conduct'
The charges that have been leveled against Chief Justice Margaret Marshall are that Canon 1 and Canon 2 of the Judicial Code of Conduct require a judge to uphold the "integrity" and "independence" of the judiciary and to avoid anything that even gives the "appearance of impropriety." Three Counts are made against Marshall, each for an appearance at a highly partisan, political meeting. "These charges cannot easily be dismissed," said Sarah McVay Pawlick, "because the Chief Justice has clearly violated the Code of Conduct. The only question is what should happen as a result. We realize that the decision, from what is intended to be an independent Commission, will go directly to Marshall herself as Chief Justice. "But this cannot be swept-under-the-rug. The Commission is required to investigate and make a public report. There is no way it can deny the Code of Ethics which every lawyer learns during his first week in law school. "At the very least, this will be a serious embarrassment to the Justice which will seriously tarnish her reputation, and deservedly so, even if the Boston Globe and the other media try to ignore it. "We have two important cases before her Court now and we would like to see someone on the Court take them seriously. My husband, Atty. J. Edward Pawlick, has been telling me for some time that we are on a fool's errand trying to get justice out of this Court, but we're very glad we tried and gave them the benefit of the doubt because no one can say we are acting precipitously. "If it continues the way it has been, we will owe it to our many supporters that we bring this to a federal court. With the terrible indictment which was issued against the state's court system this month by Marshall's Special Committee, the present leadership of our courts will be unable to survive another scandal. Something is going to have to give." The full text of the Complaint and the three Counts follow.
Margaret H. Marshall was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court in November 1996. She was appointed as Chief Justice in September 1999 and began her term on October 14, 1999. Canons 1 and 2 of SJC Rule 3:09, Code of Conduct state: Canon 1 - A Judge Should Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary An independent and honorable judiciary is indispensable to justice in our society. A judge should participate in establishing, maintaining, and enforcing, and should himself observe, high standards of conduct so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary may be preserved. The provisions of this Code should be construed and applied to further that objective without any limitation upon the Supreme Judicial Court in the exercise of its power of general superintendence, whether statutory or inherent, in areas not delineated in the Code. Canon 2 - A Judge Should Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in All His Activities (A) A judge should respect and comply with the law and should conduct himself at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. (B) A judge should not allow his family, social, or other relationships to influence his judicial conduct or judgment. He should not lend the prestige of his office to advance the private interests of others; nor should he convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence him. He should not testify voluntarily as a character witness. (C) A judge shall not hold membership in any organization that practices invidious discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin. COUNT #1 On October 5, 2000, Margaret H. Marshall, in violation of Canon 1 and Canon 2, attended, as an honored guest where 1,600 people saw her, the Annual Gala of the Women's Bar Association, a partisan political organization which lobbies in the courts and in the Legislature "on the basis of sex." At that Gala, the featured speaker was the former Press Secretary for Bill Clinton, Dee Dee Myers, who told the crowd to resounding cheers that Al Gore would win by a large margin and to even louder cheers that Hillary Clinton would win in New York. Myers warmly acknowledged Marshall and noted that both of them were married to the New York Times, because they both had husbands who, at that time, worked there. At that political event, a lawyer, Mary Bonauto, who is employed by the homosexual law firm, GLAD, was honored. Bonauto had cases pending in the Massachusetts courts at that time and now has two cases over which Marshall is presiding at the Supreme Judicial Court. COUNT #2 In October 2000, Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall attended a gathering in Worcester, known as "Women 2000," which was a partisan political event, in violation of Canon 1 and Canon 2. Marshall made a speech at that event, in which she told the attendees that their goal must be to elect "women and those who are interested in the interests of women." She stated that the President of the United States can only nominate judges; therefore, women have to elect people to the Senate who will act as "we" want. "This is the hard work of democracy. You can't look at it and say, 'This president is going to put that judge on.'" Therefore, Marshall advised the attendees to consider their votes for U.S. Senator most carefully. The attendees were almost exclusively to the left of the political spectrum. There were only Democrats and others to the exclusion of Republicans. Marshall spoke to that theme when she mounted the dais: "Three of the women [who were then on the Supreme Judicial Court, including Marshall] were appointed by Republican governors. I think it means that women have faced enormous obstacles, but they have also been supported in different degrees from all kinds of places, expected and unexpected." An independent analysis would classify this as an extreme-left political meeting which should not be attended by any judge, particularly as a speaker. COUNT #3 In May 1999, Marshall
was the honored guest and keynote speaker at the political,
Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association, in
violation of Canon 1 and Canon 2. That organization
reported in its newsletter that Marshall, who was
born in South Africa and moved here to attend college,
noted "with pride" that her native land
was the first country to write sexual orientation
protections into the national Constitution. In 1998,
South Africa's courts struck down laws banning sodomy
between consenting adults. According to MLGBA, "Marshall
read excerpts from the stirring decision. The Justice
encouraged those lawyers in attendance to pay attention
to the growing body of gay-friendly international
jurisprudence." Respectfully submitted, Sarah McVay Pawlick, Complainant. By Her Attorney, J. Edward Pawlick
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