V
Judicial Branch
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE
OF THE
SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS*
1, The Chief Justice's time at the
moment is divided evenly between
administrative and judicial duties. I
would say, however, that with a
system as large as ours or Maryland's
it might be necessary that the Chief
Justice spend as much as eighty or
ninety per cent of his time off the
bench in the beginning.
2. At the present time a great portion
of the duties of the Chief Justice
is performed by his Administrative
Assistant, a post of considerable im-
portance in a state- wide trial court.
3. The Chief Justice is appointed by
the Governor for life and is re-
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movable on proceedings by im-
peachment or address failing good
behavior.
4. Whether it is desirable to have the
Chief Justice selected from among
the Associate Justices is, I think, en-
tirely dependent upon the existing
situation. My immediate predeces-
sor as Chief Justice came from out-
side the Court, as I did. Before him
all of the Chief Justices had been
appointed, on my current memory,
from the Associates. It is hard to
tell ... what would be best for
Maryland without knowing quite
intimately what the situation was on
the Court.
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Assume the following factors:
1. The constitution will provide for
courts which are intended to be appel-
late courts, but the constitution will not
* Letter from Paul C. Reardon, Associate
Justice, Supreme Judicial Court of Massa-
chusetts, to John C. Brooks, Executive Di-
rector, Constitutional Convention Commis-
sion of Maryland, August 17, 1966.
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limit the jurisdiction of these courts to
appellate cases.
1 This article was prepared for the Commis-
sion by Kenneth L. Lasson, a research assistant
for the Commission and at present Assistant
to the Dean at the University of Maryland
School of Law; B.A., 1963, The Johns
Hopkins University; LL.B., 1966, University
of Maryland; M.A., 1967, The Johns Hopkins
University.
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