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In the annual State of the Judiciary address, given virtually to the Maine Legislature on Wednesday, Acting Chief Justice Andrew Mead says the courts have been challenged to cope with the effects of the pandemic, not only because of the need for social distancing and other protective measures but because of the growing backlog of criminal cases.
Speaking to lawmakers, Justice Mead says the courts, like other institutions, have had to fundamentally change the way they operate. They’re using virtual hearings to minimize courtroom time, renovating courtrooms to allow for social distancing and training security screeners to also screen for COVID-19.
The View From Here: Judge’s statue shows immortality can be fleeting
U.S. Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller was known for many things in his day, but his connection to racial injustice is not worthy of honor.
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It’s only been seven years since the late Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller was immortalized with a bronze statue outside the Kennebec County Courthouse and now it’s coming down, which may set a record for the shortest immortalization in history.
Last week, the Kennebec County commissioners voted unanimously that a depiction of Fuller, who helped lay the legal foundation for a half-century of racial segregation with the Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896, did not send the right message about the county’s commitment to equal justice under law.
The statue of Melville Weston Fuller, the U.S. Supreme Court chief justice who led the 1896 ruling that legally supported more than half a century of racial segregation, will be moved from the lawn of the Kennebec County Courthouse in Augusta.
The Kennebec County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to move the statue to a spot where it can serve an educational purpose. The three-member board will appoint a committee that will decide where the statue will go and other logistics of the move.
Melville Fuller presided over Plessy v. Ferguson, a decision that allowed separate but equal race-based discrimination across the country. In 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which ensures equal protection under law, overruling the Plessy decision.
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