G. Joseph Tauro
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G. Joseph Tauro (January 10, 1906 – October 6, 1994) was the chief justice of the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...
from 1970 to 1976.


Biography

Tauro was born in
Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...
to an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
immigrant cobbler and his wife. He graduated from Lynn public schools and attended
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 ...
's College of Business Administration for a year before switching to its law school. He received his law degree in 1927. Admitted to the bar that year, he practiced in Lynn until 1961, when he became an associate Superior Court justice. Tauro's 1961 appointment was made by his longtime friend and business associate, Governor John A. Volpe. A practicing attorney in Lynn, Tauro had for many years been general counsel and a director for Volpe Construction Co. At the time of his appointment to a judgeship, he was the newly elected governor's legal counsel at the State House. The next year, Judge Tauro became chief justice of the Superior Court. A short, compact man with dark brown eyes, a brush mustache, and wavy, snow white hair, he was noted during his years on the bench for his competence, courtesy, diligence, and preparation. Aware of the caseloads crushing Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) justices, he had advocated establishment of an intermediate appellate court to permit the high court to concentrate on cases of broad social impact. Within two years of his 1970 appointment by Governor
Francis W. Sargent Francis Williams Sargent (July 29, 1915 – October 22, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 64th governor of Massachusetts from 1969 to 1975. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 63rd Lieutenant Govern ...
to the position of Chief Justice, Judge Tauro brought the project to fruition and the Appeals Court was established. He also worked to modernize state civil law and he wrote many decisions now considered landmarks in a variety of fields - contracts, torts, real property, corporations, governmental regulations and environmental protection. Tauro was the first
Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...
and
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
to hold the position of Chief Justice of the SJC. During his fourteen years on the bench, he made more than one landmark decision, including one that effectively abolished the death penalty in Massachusetts. "The state should not be in the business of taking lives," he said. The only person to serve as chief justice of both the Supreme Judicial Court and the Superior Court, he also became, upon his retirement in 1976, the first Chief Justice in the Supreme Judicial Court's long history to retire at age 70 in accordance with the 98th Amendment to the
Massachusetts Constitution The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the fundamental governing document of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the 50 individual state governments that make up the United States of America. As a member of the Massachuset ...
, adopted in 1972. A resident of
Swampscott Swampscott () is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population was 15,111 as of the 2020 United States Census. A former summer resort on Massachusetts Ba ...
, he died at Salem Hospital. He was survived by his wife of 64 years, Helen M. (''née'' Petrossi); a son, Judge
Joseph Louis Tauro Joseph Louis Tauro (; September 26, 1931 – November 30, 2018) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He was the son of the late Massachusetts Chief Justice G. Joseph Tauro. E ...
; two brothers, Arthur L. and Raymond; and a sister, Celia Tricca. He is predeceased by his brother Dr. Antonio Tauro and his sister Carol A. Gioacchini.


References


"G. Joseph Tauro, was chief justice of SJC and Superior Court; at 88"
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The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', October 7, 1994 . 1906 births 1994 deaths Boston University School of Law alumni Chief Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Massachusetts Superior Court justices People from Lynn, Massachusetts People from Swampscott, Massachusetts 20th-century American judges Catholics from Massachusetts American people of Italian descent {{Massachusetts-state-judge-stub