A Night with Great Women, Great Chiefs

Student's Perspective on Dinner and Symposium Remarks with State Chief Justices Margaret Marshall, Marsha Ternus, and Jean Toal

by Nicholas Forst

Nicholas Forst is a second-year student at Albany Law School and the newly selected Moot Court Board Executive Chair for the 2011-2012 Karen C. McGovern Senior Prize Trials Competition.

Thanks to Professor Vincent Bonventre, our State Constitutional Adjudication Seminar was able to have dinner with two State Chief Justices: Hon. Marsha Ternus from Iowa and Hon. Jean Toal from South Carolina.  This dinner was held on the eve of the Albany Law Review's Symposium titled, Great Women, Great Chiefs, where Hon. Margaret Marshall from Massachusetts joined the panel.  It was a wonderful opportunity for Professor Bonventre's students, and we are extremely grateful to the Chief Justices for taking the time to sit down with us.  This article contains this author's impressions from both the dinner and the Chief Justices' remarks at the Symposium.

During our time with the Justices, it became evident how each personified a different approach to legal issues in their roles as head of their respective State judiciaries--Chief Justice Toal, the Firebrand Justice; former Chief Justice Ternus, the Platonist; and retired Chief Justice Marshall, the Revolutionary.  Although it may be considered overly simplistic to assign each justice a title like she is the Amazing Spiderman; the purpose behind it is to more easily qualify the fundamental platform from which their theories and actions emanate.  I believe this was clearly evident in the way each Justice approached her tenure on the court and the current state of affairs in the legal field.

Great Women, Great Chiefs

On Wednesday, February 16, 2011, the Albany Law Review will host it's annual Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke State Constitutional Commentary Symposium. This year's participants are three of the nation's most eminent jurists.

Chief Justice Margaret Marshall of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Chief Justice Marsha Ternus from the Iowa Supreme Court, and Chief Justice Jean Toal of the South Carolina Supreme Court will share their insights as the presiding members of the highest court and the judicial branch of their respective states.

The event begins at 2 p.m. at Albany Law School, in the Dean Alexander Moot Courtroom. A reception will follow.

Join the Law Review for this very special event.

Click here for more information.

Chief Justice Margaret Marshall of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

A Presentation on the Life and Judicial Record of One of the Nation's Most Highly Regarded Jurists

By Jessie R. Cardinale.

In this power point presentation, Jessie Cardinale, a third-year student at Albany Law School and Senior Editor of the Center, profiles Margaret Marshall, the first female Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court--America's oldest appellate court and one of its most historically influential. Off the bench, Marshall has had a fascinating and inspiring life. On the bench, she has authored several landmark opinions, including Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which legalized same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.  This presentation outlines Marshall's background, relationship with associate justices, and voting patterns during her tenure as Chief Justice. Marshall recently retired to spend more time with her husband, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Anthony Lewis.

To view the full presentation, click here
--then, to view the slide show, click Download + Slide Show + From the Beginning.