We are very pleased to share that FJI’s nominee for the Sandra Day O’Connor Award, Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall, was selected by the National Judicial College to receive the award.
Margaret Hilary Marshall was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court in 1996. Three years later, she was appointed as the chief justice and served from 1999 to 2010, the first woman to hold the position in the more than 300-year history of the Court. During her tenure on the Court, Chief Justice Marshall wrote many groundbreaking opinions, including Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (2003), which declared that the Massachusetts Constitution prohibits the state from denying same-sex couples’ access to civil marriage. The ruling made Massachusetts the first state in the United States to legalize gay marriage. It was another 12 years before access to civil marriage for same-sex couples was made available in all states. Obergefell v. Hodges (2015).
As Chief Justice she was recognized here and abroad as an advocate for an independent judiciary and as a leader in the promotion of administrative reforms within the judicial branch. Recognizing that “justice delayed, is justice denied”, her reforms improved the delivery of justice, with significant decreases in case backlogs and in the length of time between the filing and resolution of cases, as well as in cost-savings throughout the system. A long-time advocate of access to justice for all, she implemented innovative procedures for self-represented litigants and strengthened pro bono services by the bar.
In addition to fulfilling the myriad responsibilities of the chief justice of the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the western hemisphere, Margaret Marshall found time to author numerous addresses and scholarly articles touching on the twin imperatives of the rule of law and judicial independence.
Chief Justice Marshall was born, raised, and educated in South Africa at a time when apartheid, the oppressive system of white minority rule, was in place. She obtained her baccalaureate from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. While an undergraduate, she was elected President of the National Union of South African Students, at the time a leading anti-apartheid organization. She came to the United States to pursue a master’s degree at Harvard University (1968) and received her J.D. from Yale Law School (1976). Because of her opposition to apartheid, she was unable to return to South Africa. She became a United States citizen in 1978.
Following her graduation, Margaret Marshall practiced law in Boston, becoming a partner at Csaplar & Bok, and then Choate Hall & Stewart. Immediately before her appointment to the Court, Chief Justice Marshall served as the Vice President and General Counsel of Harvard University, the first woman to hold that position.
Chief Justice Marshall has been involved in numerous professional activities. She served as President of the United States Conference of Chief Justices, and as Chair of the Board of the National Center for State Courts. She is a Fellow and member of the Counsel of the American Philosophical Society, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member emerita of the Council and Executive Committee of the American Law Institute. She previously served as a member of the Committee on Science, Technology and Law of the National Academies, and until 2019 as a board member and chair of the Friends of Legal Resources Centre of South Africa. In 2004 she became a Fellow of the Corporation (trustee) of Yale University, the governing board and policy-making body for the University. Until 2016 she served as its Senior Fellow (senior trustee), the first woman to hold that position.
Chief Justice Marshall has received numerous honorary degrees and other awards recognizing her judicial and other accomplishments, including an honorary degree from each of her alma maters, University of the Witwatersrand (2000), Yale University (2012) and Harvard University (2021). In addition, Margaret Marshall has received the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award and the American Constitution Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She also was the recipient of the 2021 Bolch Prize for her longstanding commitment to the Rule of Law which is awarded by Duke University School of Law.
Award Ceremony and Tickets
Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall (ret.) will receive the award on November 14, 2024 in Boston. The reception is from 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. The individual ticket price is $100, and may be ordered through the National Judicial College website at www.judges.org/donate or by contacting NJC Director of Advancement Susan Robinson at 775-327-8252.