Justice from Dartmouth

James L. Morse '62 has been sworn in as a justice of Vermont's Supreme Court by Gov. Madeleine Kunin. Ironically Morse takes the seat formerly held by Frank Mahady '61, who stepped down from the high court in April during Senate confirmation hearings that deadlocked on questions related to tax payments.

Analysts seem to agree that Justice Morse will be a moderate on the court. He brings with him seven years of experience on the state's Superior Court, to which he was appointed by former Gov. Richard Snelling. His wife, Gretchen, is Vermont's Secretary of Human Services and a former Republican legislator. Morse is an independent who, in his class's 25th Reunion yearbook said, "I hope Dartmouth will strive to permit any view to be freely expressed, without parochial reaction."

A Vermonter much of his life, Jim Morse prepped at Deerfield, followed his father Robert Morse '20 to Dartmouth, majored in art, joined Bones Gate and DTD, and went on to Boston University Law School. He received his J.D. there in 1969, having spent four years in the U.S. Navy. The Morses have two daughters, Rebecca and Rachel.