Margaret Marshall, Former Harvard Counsel, Named SJC Chief Justice

Justice Margaret H. Marshall, a former Harvard general counsel, was confirmed yesterday as the first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court.

The Governor's Council, an elected body in charge of approving the governor's judicial nominations, voted 6-3 in favor of Marshall. The margin was unchanged from the councilors' stated positions of about two weeks ago, when Marshall was accused of having an anti-Catholic bias and of being unqualified.

The chief justice whom Marshall replaces, Herbert P. Wilkins '51, former president of the Board of Overseers, said he believes in Marshall's intelligence as a judge and skill in public relations.

"She has a vast amount of experience. It's important for the chief justice to relate to people, to be a good communicator--and she's outgoing," he said.

Indeed, Marshall's candidacy met little resistance until several controversies surfaced.

On Sept. 27, Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard F. Law '53 wrote a letter to Gov. A. Paul Cellucci saying that Marshall was "open to the serious charge of anti-Catholicism," the Boston Globe reported on Sept. 28.

In the letter, Law objected to Marshall's rebuking of Learned Hand Professor of Law Mary Ann Glendon in 1993 when Marshall worked for Harvard. Marshall objected to Glendon's use of Harvard stationery for a letter to Catholic priests.

Then, on Oct. 5, Massachusetts Citizens For Life objected that Marshall had served on the board of Crittenton Hastings House, a group that performs abortions. They initiated a campaign to telephone councilors asking them to vote against her.

Also that day, The Crimson reported that in the past Harvard security guards had criticized Marshall for hiring her former law firm to write a report that exonerated the University on a racial discrimination suit, a suit brought by several Harvard guards.

Marshall did not respond to these issues in her testimony before the council earlier this month. But Cellucci said that she and Law resolved their differences over the telephone.

The Archdiocese of Boston would not comment on any aspect of Marshall's confirmation.

Beneficial Professor Charles Fried, who retired from the court earlier this year, said he is pleased with the outcome of the confirmation process.

"From the beginning, I thought the nomination was excellent and I constantly expected her to be confirmed," he said.

Wilkins said he approves of the state's system of selecting judges, but said political considerations could unnecessarily limit people who hope to become judges.

"I think that ideologues are not helping the system by acting as if people should never take a stand on anything," he said.

General Counsel Anne Taylor said she thinks Marshall will be a "terrific ambassador" for the court.

She said that Marshall's work with the Harvard University Police Department was a valuable contribution of her tenure.

In nominating her, Cellucci praised Marshall's vocal activism against apartheid in her native South Africa before she came to the U.S. in the 1960s.

As a lawyer, Marshall was in private practice before becoming Harvard's general counsel.

Then-governor William F. Weld '66 nominated her to the court in 1996, and she was confirmed that year as the second female associate justice

Marshall, 55, can serve until she is 70.

She was unavailable for comment yesterday.