Samuel Edward Zoll (June 20, 1934 – April 26, 2011) was an American lawyer, judge and politician. He began his career as a high school teacher then became a lawyer, politician, then a judge. Later in life he was named to be Chief Justice of the District Courts in Massachusetts.

Early life and education

Zoll was born in

Peabody, Massachusetts Peabody () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 54,481 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. Peabody is located in the North Shore region of Massachusetts, and is known for its rich industrial histo ...

. His father was an immigrant from Lithuania, and his mother was a native of nearby Haverhill. Zoll was educated at Salem High School and attained a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree, both from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. He attended the

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two block ...

receiving a

Juris Doctor Degree The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

(JD) degree in 1962.

Career

Zoll was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

veteran who served in the

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. Zoll worked as a high school teacher at

Danvers High School Danvers High School (DHS) is a public high school in Danvers, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Danvers Public Schools school district. Demographics Student enrolment for the 2017-2018 School year (Grades 9-12) was 941. The school ...

from 1958 to 1962. While teaching, he served on the Salem City Council (from 1958 until 1966, being President of the Council from 1959 to 1960). After graduating in law, Zoll worked as a lawyer. He was a State Representative of Salem from 1965 to 1969. John Adams Courthouse SJC Massachusetts

Zoll successfully ran for office as the Mayor of Salem, serving a full term. He left the mayoral office before the end of the second term in 1973 when he accepted his first judicial appointment. In 1973, he was appointed by Governor Sargent to be Special Justice of the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

District Court. In 1974, he was appointed again by Governor Sargent as Presiding Justice of the Salem District Court. Zoll became Chief Justice of the Massachusetts District Courts in 1976 when he was first appointed by Governor

Michael S. Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...

. Following the passage of the court reform bill in 1993, Chief Justice Zoll was then reappointed as Chief Justice of the District Court in 1998 He chaired the Commonwealth Joint Labor Management Committee which oversees police and fire unions negotiations with the government. He retired on June 20, 2004 when he reached the age of 70, the mandatory retirement age for judges.

Honors and awards

* The media centre of Salem High School was named The Samuel E. Zoll Instructional Media Center. * In 2009, Zoll was the keynote speaker for the 100th anniversary of the Congregation Sons of Israel. * He was awarded honorary degrees from Suffolk University and

Salem State College Salem State University (Salem State or SSU) is a public university in Salem, Massachusetts. Established in 1854, it is the oldest and largest institute of higher education on the North Shore and is part of the state university system in Massa ...

* In 1991, he received the Brandeis University Award for Distinguished Public Service.

Family life

Zoll and his wife Marjorie lived in Salem. They had four children and five grandchildren.

Scott Brown

U.S. Senator

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State * Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...

has recalled that, aged twelve, he was brought before Judge Zoll in Salem for

shoplifting Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...

. Zoll asked Brown if his siblings would like seeing him play basketball in jail, and required him to write a 1,500 word essay on the topic as his punishment. Brown said, "That was the last time I ever stole, the last time I ever thought bout stealing.. The other day I was at Staples, and something was in my cart that I didn't pay for. I had to bring it back because ... I thought of Judge Zoll."

Other rulings

Zoll once required a family to eat dinner together for 30 days and sent a parole officer to make sure they were doing it.

Death

Zoll died on April 26, 2011 at his home in Salem after a year-long battle with

gallbladder cancer Gallbladder cancer is a relatively uncommon cancer, with an incidence of fewer than 2 cases per 100,000 people per year in the United States. It is particularly common in central and South America, central and eastern Europe, Japan and northern Ind ...

. He was 76 years of age.

Note

:1. Zoll retained the title of Presiding Justice at Salem District Court after being appointed Chief Justice of the District Court System. David T. Doyle (1976 to 1998) and

Robert Cornetta Robert A. Cornetta is an American jurist who currently serves as a Lawrence Superior Court judge and is an adjunct professor at the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover. Early life Cornetta was born in 1951 in Winthrop, Massachusetts. He gra ...

(1998 to 2004) served as acting Presiding Justices.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoll, Samuel 1934 births 2011 deaths Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts Massachusetts city council members Massachusetts state court judges Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts lawyers Mayors of Salem, Massachusetts Suffolk University Law School alumni Boston University School of Management alumni Deaths from gallbladder cancer American people of Lithuanian descent 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers Salem High School (Massachusetts) alumni