MAURA S. DOYLE SEEKS RE-ELECTION TO POST AS CLERK OF THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT FOR SUFFOLK COUNTY

(Originally published in the Boston Post-Gazette  2000)

By Jay Gillespie

Maura S. Doyle is campaigning to uphold her position as Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County. 

                A graduate of both Northeastern University and Suffolk University School of Law, Doyle, who credits the influence of the late Boston attorney, Abner Sisson, had made her presence known in the Massachusetts legal community and beyond.  After practicing as a civil litigation attorney for 11 years, Maura Doyle became a Supreme Judicial Court Assistant Clerk in 1992.  In 1996, the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court unanimously appointed her Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County.  On November 3, 1998 Maura Doyle became the first woman ever to be selected Clerk of SJC. 

                “It was very difficult when I came here in 1992,” says Doyle, who has been credited with instituting technological improvements to the Clerk’s office with regard to public access to court records including the implementation of an electronic library of unreported single justice opinions as well as digital access to over twenty years of previous bar applications that are frequently at the request of the public.

                “I bring to the position a different view on how to do business in the sense that I’m not purely a political figure nor am I a person who has been a product of the judicial system their entire work life.  I brought a lot of the innovations I learned in the private sector with me such as computer knowledge,” says Doyle, who recently received Pope John XXIII High School’s 2000 Alumni Achievement Award. 

                “I bring a certain degree of professionalism, which is important.”  To further emphasize her point, Doyle informed me that she had created a seal for her office, the logo on which reads “the office is responsive, accountable, and professional.  Those are three very important things, not just as an elected official, but that anyone in public service has an obligation to fulfill.” 

                Already accomplished in her position, Maura Doyle looks to the future with new goals in mind.  “I have always taken the position that it is always my job to educate.  I try to do as much as I can to bring the court to the people.  I’d like to take that professional educational aspect to a new level and I’d love to see more people really know about this court.  The concept of politics and people is tremendously important in the context of the courts,” adds Doyle.  “It’s so important to have someone that is concerned about the responsiveness of the system and considers their job one of helping and not just being there.” 

                And so Maura Doyle seeks re-election to her position as Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County with a firm belief that she has worked for the confidence of the people to, again, gain their vote.  “If you have to answer to the people, it is important that you are accountable and demonstrate, no matter who that person is coming through the door or at the other end of the phone that you know what you’re doing and that you want to help.” 

                Doyle conducts herself with a steady confidence when she speaks of her tenure at the court with an accomplished look at the past and an optimistic view of the future.  “I strive for excellence, but not perfection,” says Doyle.  “I always do my best.” 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Image
EAST BRIDGEWATER 1980 - REFLECTIONS ON BASEBALL This column originally appeared on Wicked Local. Each year as the weather becomes more spring-like, I am taken back to 1980 in East Bridgewater, a memorable end of the school year with an extremely competitive little league season.   Baseball was the highlight of our spring.   There was no internet.   There were no AirPods.   There wasn’t even such thing as a Space Invader yet, unless you were talking about the ones that arrived on the big-screen in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.     All players marched in the annual East Bridgewater Little League parade, and for the first time in what would become the norm, I opened the season at second base for the Lions Club team coached by twenty-one year old Terry Kingman.   Eamon (Terry’s little brother) was a fixture at shortstop.   Eamon Kingman and I were close friends, so we worked well together on and off the field like Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, the duo that held down the
Read more
Image
BROCKTON ACCORDING TO GILLESPIE This column originally appeared on Wicked Local                                           I decided to make a trip through Brockton after roughly thirty years away. Brockton is a city that, despite its questionable reputation in recent years, is one that I remember as being vibrant and lively when I was a kid. But the Brockton I found was sadly void of the energy that I remembered. Gone are the landmarks that once characterized Brockton East: Christo’s, the Brockton East Twin Cinema, Bradlees, Burger King, Friendly’s, Red Lobster, and even the old Jack-in-the-Box. They have been replaced by a handful of less than notable stores, a Home Depot, and an annex to Massasoit Community College.   The energetic vibe that once reverberated the downtown area of Brockton is also gone.   Main Street was once highlighted by thriving long-lasting businesses, the Brockton Enterprise, the YMCA, and a variety of inviting jewelry and furniture stores.   L
Read more
Image
CANCER COMES UNEXPECTEDLY This column originally appeared on Wicked Local. My wife asked me if I would like to go to her doctor’s appointment with her.  Although I would be forced to take the morning off from work, it was something that was clearly important to her, so in a show of support I agreed to join her.   (My wife sometimes measures loyalty and commitment through a willingness to accompany her to medical appointments.) She was scheduled to get a routine mammogram, a relatively simple procedure that would hopefully leave us the rest of the day to have lunch and possibly do some light-hearted shopping.   I had already poured through roughly ten pages of my book, Bill Pennington’s expose on late Yankee icon Billy Martin, by the time she reached out to me via text message.  “So they just did another mammogram x-ray and now I wait to talk to the radiologist.  They said I could have them bring you in for the results but it’s a little weird with all females back here with ho
Read more