Litigation

Tuesday Gavel Grab Briefs

By Peter Hardin

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xBZKbOHhDg

Justice Roderick Ireland took the oath of office as chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, becoming the first African-American to hold that post.

“This is the right man at the right time,” said Governor Deval Patrick, according to a Boston Globe article. Justice Ireland first was appointed to the high court in 1997.

In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts:

• In an instant runoff election for the N.C. Court of Appeals, incumbent Judge Cressie Thigpen conceded, and Doug McCullough will return to the appeals bench, as a result of a statewide recount, the Associated Press reported.

• Preparing to depart the U.S. Senate, Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said he’d like to see rules changed so that 51 votes, instead of 60, are required to cut off the filibuster of an executive or judicial branch nominee, according to a Blog of Legal Times article.

Full post as published by The Gavel on December 21, 2010 (boomark / email).