Mass. chief justice celebrates diversity on bench

Chief Justice Margaret Marshall of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court stressed Monday at the School of Law that diversity on the bench is fundamental to having a successful rule of law.

In an interview with 1978 School of Public Communication alumna Marilu Ramirez before a crowd of about 100 students, professors and other court members, Marshall also said underrepresented groups have been increasingly successful in breaking down barriers in recent years.

“If you come from an underrepresented community, you may even have an advantage [in becoming a judge],” Marshall said. “I certainly felt that as a woman, I had an advantage. It’s like looking at Justice [Sonia] Sotomayor and saying her background had no effect on her appointment-of course it did.”

Marshall received her master’s degree from Harvard University and law degree from Yale University. In 1996, she was the second woman to be appointed a justice on the court. In 1999 Marshall became the first female chief justice in the court’s history.

“I grew up in South Africa at a time when the country was operating under the system of racial supremacy of all whites,” she said. “It was a country that didn’t respect the rules of law and I came to see first-hand what a system based on racial supremacy meant.

“One of the geniuses I think of this country is our system of constitutional democracy.”
Marshall said growing up in South Africa has allowed her to bring passion to her work.

“For me, developing a respect for the rule of law is making sure that everybody in this audience, and everybody outside this building, and everybody in Massachusetts has a respect for the rule of law,” she said. “And that they feel that when they come into our courthouses day in and day out that they will be treated equally, and that their cases will be adjudicated by judges who are governed by the rule of law.”

Despite her success, Marshall said she often wished her father and grandfather went to law school so she had a last name that could mean something at a law firm.

She said she feels very strongly about encouraging women to go into the practice of law and will talk to any young woman about it.

Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said he thought the interview between Ramirez and Marshall was a lesson in discovering justice.

“As a lawyer, I’m here to tell you we don’t have enough candid conversations around these kinds of issues,” he said. “As a person, I don’t have enough of these conversations in my household, and these are really big conversation points.”

Although Marshall said she faced challenging situations, she believes this country is full of opportunities for all ethnic groups.

“I think there’s not another country in the world as open to opportunity as this one,” Marshall said. “It never occurred to me that I would become a [chief justice] when I was growing up in a very tiny village in South Africa. It never entered my mind.”

Marshall said that she hopes as a society, people will come to celebrate diversity.

LAW junior Lia Mulligan said hearing the chief justice speak was inspiring.

“As a future female attorney, what I admire about Marshall is the genuineness that comes across in her speaking,” she said. “I wanted to see someone with a position as high as hers discuss issues of reality that are not just the fine points of law, but what really impact people.”