SUPREME
JUDICIAL COURT CHIEF JUSTICE
MARGARET H. MARSHALL TO GIVE KEYNOTE ADDRESS
AT NORTHAMPTON LAW DAY CELEBRATION ON MAY 12
Boston, MA — Supreme
Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall will
be the keynote speaker during the Law Day celebration at
the Northampton Courthouse on May 12, 2004. Chief Justice
Marshall will speak about the importance of the landmark
United States Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board
of Education and Northampton’s rich legacy of fostering
civil rights.
Law Day festivities,
which are open to the public, will begin at 8:30 a.m.
with a reception at the Courthouse, at 15 Gothic Street
in downtown Northampton, followed by guided tours through
court sessions in the Northampton District Court, the
Franklin-Hampshire Counties Juvenile Court, Hampshire
Probate and Family Court, and the Hampshire Superior
Court. Hopkins Academy students will conduct a mock trial
in District Court Courtroom Three from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30
a.m.
At 11:00
a.m. five distinguished area scholars will discuss the Brown decision,
which fifty years ago declared the segregationist doctrine
of “separate but equal” to be unconstitutional. Professor
Albert Mosley, of the Smith College Philosophy Department,
will moderate the discussion among Professor Alice Hearst
and Professor Donald Robinson of the Smith College Government
Department, Professor Joanne Corbin of the Smith College
School of Social Work, and Professor John Bracey, Jr.,
of the University of Massachusetts Afro-American Studies
Department.
Following
a welcome by Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins, Chief
Justice Marshall’s address will begin at approximately
12:15 p.m.
Law Day was
established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958
to recognize “the country’s great heritage of liberty,
justice and equality.” Celebrations commemorating Law
Day take place in courthouses throughout Massachusetts
and across the United States.
