6th in a Series About Judge Marshall and the Massachusetts Courts
Judge Marshall Held Panel's "Press Release" for Six Weeks Before Letting Anyone See It          
            When a panel of highly qualified civic leaders who had been appointed to assess the Mass. courts (which are all under Justice Marshall's leadership), reported that the courts are a disaster, Marshall was startled and shocked.
            Worse, the well known and respected lay leaders (headed by the former head of Boston College, Chancellor J. Donald Monan) included a professionally prepared Press Release which the Panel expected the court to distribute for them. It summarized their Report which was not kind to the judge.
            But Marshall wasn't about to let that Press Release be released until she first determined her damage-control strategy. Can you imagine the front-page headlines on all the daily newspapers the next day which would reprint the headline on the Press Release: "Courts Mired in Managerial Confusion, Says Blue-Ribbon Reform Panel."
            Can you imagine Howie Carr and other "rightwing" talk show hosts? They would talk about nothing else for weeks, or until she resigned.

Marshall Kept the Report Quiet
            Marshall's solution was simple. She didn't release the Press Release until she had thoroughly examined the accompanying Report. She had received many such Reports over the years and had managed to bury them all. She would do the same with this one.
            She has never told us when she received the Report, but she held it until March 4, 2003 when she released it with her answer. She was sure of one thing. The Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram would not print anything bad about her because The New York Times Company owned both newspapers, and she was good friends with both  Her husband of twenty-years, Anthony Lewis, had been the premiere columnist for the Times for over 50-years. They were family to the judge.
            In addition, she had already made a deal with Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr. (Pinch) to work together. Her husband knew him well and had full access to the Executive Office floor at the Times building in New York City.

Why Did Marshall Try to Trick Us?
            How long did Marshall hold that Press Release? When was it given to her? We don't know those answers because she won't tell, but we do know that she almost fooled everyone, including us. If one looks at the beginning of the Release as finally released by her, it has the date in parentheses. Most people would never notice that or understand its significance. She didn't want us to see that she held it for a long time.
            How long did she hold it? The Committee was appointed in August 2002 and their Report says they spent six months on the project. That would mean they reported to Marshall in the middle of February which means that Judge Marshall held it for six weeks while she pondered about her future in her adopted country of America.         
Read the Committees "Mired in Confusion" Press Release (PDF format)
Read Marshall's "Spin" on the Report
Photo Series of Committee Meeting with Court Managers