FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 12, 2009
			Contact: Joan Kenney/Charlotte Whiting 617/557-1114 joan.kenney@sjc.state.ma.us

          The Massachusetts Superior Court will hold a statewide symposium featuring many distinguished judges, lawyers, and university professors who will speak on Tuesday, September 22, 2009, from 2:00 to 5:30 p.m. in the Rabb Auditorium of the Boston Public Library in celebration of 150 years of the rule of law in Massachusetts. The three-part event, which is open to the public and is free of charge, will include moderator Tom Ashbrook, host of National Public Radio’s On Point program.

           Superior Court Chief Justice Barbara J. Rouse will begin the program by describing the origin of the Massachusetts Superior Court in 1859. A panel discussion, entitled “Looking Back: Notable Cases in the Court’s History,” will be moderated by Stephen Burbank, David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. This panel will focus on high profile criminal cases and issues involving free press and fair trials, education and civil rights, and government entities, including “Big Dan’s,” the Hancock public school funding case, and the Boston Harbor case.

           Panelists are Mary Bonauto, Esq., Superior Court Judge Barbara A. Dortch-Okara, former Supreme Judicial Court Justice John M. Greaney, former Attorney General L. Scott Harshbarger, Harry Spence, Professor of Practice, Harvard Graduate School of Education and Kennedy School of Government, and U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young.

           A third segment, “The Future: Challenges for the Next 150 Years,” will feature a discussion focusing on three interrelated themes: judicial independence, the vanishing jury trial, and the impact of technology and changing demographics on court proceedings. Moderated by Tom Ashbrook, this panel includes Superior Court Judge Judith Fabricant, Joan Lukey, Esq., Appeals Court Justice James F. McHugh, and Professor Charles Ogletree, Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard University and Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice.

           Following the symposium, a commemorative reception and dinner hosted by the Supreme Judicial Court Historical Society and the Massachusetts Bar Association will be held in the Fairmont Copley Hotel, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Highlighting the event will be the keynote speaker, the Honorable Stephen G. Breyer, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. For ticket information to attend the commemorative dinner, please contact the Supreme Judicial Court Historical Society, in care of Cassandra Semenza at 617-204-4230.

           To mark the 150th anniversary of the Massachusetts Superior Court in 2009, educational programs and events, such as mock trials, reenactments of famous trials, open houses, and historic tours, have been held for adults, students, and children in counties across the state. The Massachusetts Bar Foundation and judges of the Superior Court have provided funding for the yearlong program. Technical assistance and support are being provided by the Social Law Library and the Supreme Judicial Court Historical Society.

           Established in 1859, the Massachusetts Superior Court has 82 authorized judges sitting in 14 counties of the state. It is one of the oldest common law trial courts of general jurisdiction in the country.