Mr. Justice Mahady

Frank G. "Skip" Mahady '61 was sworn in August 31 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Vermont by Governor Madeleine Kunin. "I think he will lend a certain kind of courage," said Kunin. "We need individuals on the court who will stand up for individual rights, who will make certain that the Constitution is a living document."

Mahady had served as a District Court judge since 1982, where he earned a reputation as a strong advocate for individual rights.

One such instance occurred when state officials suspected child abuse was going on in Island Pond's Northeast Kingdom Community Church, a religious sect, and sent in 90 state troopers and 50 social workers, who removed 112 children. The next day Mahady ruled the raid unconstitutional and released the children saying, "Not only were the children to be treated as mere pieces of evidence; they were also to be held hostage to the ransom demand of information from the parents. In our society people are not pieces of evidence ... no human being in the United States may be so dealt with."

In a second case, in which 44 demonstrators were arrested for trespassing in the office of Sen. Robert Stafford, R-Vt., Mahady allowed a "necessity defense" by which the defendants said their alleged crime was committed in order to stop what they saw as the greater crimes of U.S. support for the government of El Salvador and for the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. The demonstrators were acquitted.

"You'll see him continue the sensitivity a number of justices have shown toward civil rights issues," predicted former Vermont attorney general M. Jerome Diamond, who called Mahady "probably the foremost constitutional scholar in the state."

Mahady, one of five justices, noted in comments to the Rutland Herald on his appointment: "There has never been a District Court judge before on the Supreme Court, and I would like to think I would bring somewhat of a different perspective to the court. The principal concerns of the District Courts are the criminal justice system and juvenile work." Though he told the newspaper that he enjoyed legal research and legal writing, "No question about itI'm very much going to miss the trial courts and the people in the trial courts. But everything in life is a trade-off."

Vermont Gov. Kunin swears in Frank Mahady '61 as a SupremeCourt associate justice. Looking on are daughters Shannon andTara and wife, Sherry.