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First woman approved as head of Massachusetts
high court

BOSTON (AP) — Justice Margaret Marshall was elevated to chief
justice of Massachusetts' highest court Wednesday, becoming the first
woman to head the nation's oldest appellate court.

Ms. Marshall, a former chief counsel at Harvard University, overcame
charges of anti-Catholic bias to win a 6-3 confirmation vote by the
Governor's Council, which votes on nominations by the governor.

"1 follow in the footsteps of giants," Ms. Marshall said. "1 do so with
humility, and with a deep commitment to the rule of law."

Ms. Marshall, 55, a native of South Africa, was appointed an associate
justice of the Supreme Judicial Court in 1996. She was at Harvard at the
time and had previously been in private practice.

Her nomination to head the 307-year-old court was marred when
Cardinal Bernard Law raised concerns that she harbored anti-Catholic
bias.

Law, who heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, wrote last
month to Gov. Paul Cellucci and said Ms. Marshall was "open to serious
charges of anti-Catholicism."

He cited an incident in which Ms. Marshall, while at Harvard, chastised a
professor who had used university stationery for a personal note with an
anti-abortion message.

Catholic groups also feared she could not be impartial on abortion cases
because she once served on an abortion clinic's board of trustees. Ms.
Marshall denied her personal views would affect her role as jurist.

Law later retracted his complaint after speaking with Ms. Marshall, who
is Protestant.

"She gave me her assurance that she was not anti-Catholic," he said, "and
I have absolutely no reason to not accept her word on that."

10/13/99 8:44 PM