letter to the editor:
Recent criticism of DA Conte is a disgrace
I have been employed in the office of District Attorney John J.
Conte for more than 25 years. In light of the Telegram & Gazette’s
most recent editorial criticism of Mr. Conte (Telegram & Gazette,
March 17), I feel compelled to write.
For as long as I can remember, Mr. Conte has led the effort to have
a new courthouse built. All you need to do is ask local officials,
lawyers, judges and court personnel who were on the original
courthouse committee, and they will praise the longstanding
commitment and efforts of Mr. Conte to have this courthouse built.
Mr. Conte has been the constant leader of this project for more than
20 years.
Does the T&G editorial board even read its own paper? As far back as
the nineties, a T&G editorial read, “DA Conte, who spearheaded the
decade-long campaign for the Worcester courthouse, and members of
the local legislative caucus have reason to celebrate.” To name the
new courthouse in honor of Mr. Conte for getting this fine building
for downtown Worcester, or to not name it after him, is up to the
Legislature and, ultimately, Gov. Mitt Romney, but to downplay his
significant role and success in obtaining this new facility is
wrong.
To consistently attack a dedicated man who has devoted nearly 50
years of his life to public service is a disgrace.
It has been an honor to be a loyal employee to work for him and with
him. Enough already. Show some respect.
ELIZABETH A. STAMMO
Sterling
Much ado about name for court
For accessibility sake, it shouldn’t be Conte
Dianne Williamson ,T&G STAFF
In no particular
order, I offer several reasons why we shouldn’t name the new
courthouse after District Attorney John J. Conte:
1. Despite compelling evidence to the contrary, he is not dead yet.
2. He has failed to solve many high-profile cases that broke during
his interminable tenure, including the Scola killing, the Volungis
murder, and the disappearance of Lucy Keyes from Mount Wachusett in
1755.
3. His dour spirit would forever infuse the new building so that
even the janitorial staff would walk around snapping “no comment” to
perfect strangers.
4. He was caught selling steroids to Barry Bonds. Wait, that’s a
different Conte.
5. Unlike our district attorney, the courthouse will be accessible
to the public.
As courthouse construction proceeds, people are increasingly
interested in the naming of the building and whether it should be
linked with a person or just its location, considering that few
locals refer to the Harold D. Donohue Federal Courthouse or James D.
O’Brien Field at Worcester Airport. It’s just the federal
courthouse, or Worcester Regional Airport, although frustrated air
travelers have been known to create their own names for the airport,
none of which can be printed in a family newspaper.
Factions have emerged. State Rep. James B. Leary has proposed that
the courthouse be named after famed Worcester jurist Levi Lincoln,
who was born in 1749 and, despite serving as governor and attorney
general of the United States and ending slavery in Massachusetts,
the most he got in return for his troubles was his family’s name on
a measly square. (In an interesting aside, Mr. Lincoln represented
the notorious Bathsheba Spooner of Brookfield, who was hanged near
Worcester Common in 1778 for the murder of her husband. A crowd of
5,000 reportedly witnessed the hanging, including District Attorney
Conte).
State Rep. John P. Fresolo wants to name the courthouse after two
people — World War II war heroes John V. Power and Joseph O’Callahan.
The proposal strikes me as a bit excessive, frankly, considering
that we should hardly be expected to say that we’re headed to the
John Power Joseph Callahan Memorial Worcester County State
Courthouse to file a deed.
For years, retired Judge Milton H. Raphaelson has insisted that any
new courthouse bear the name of the late legal titan John H.
Meagher, a Superior Court judge and dominant figure at the
courthouse in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. Judge Raphaelson calls
himself the “self-appointed head of a committee of one” in his
quest, although he seems to have some support within the legal
community.
Among those who want to name the building after Mr. Conte are state
Rep. Karyn E. Polito and state Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, an otherwise
perfectly reasonable man, who indicated last week that he wasn’t
“married” to the glum prospect of the Worcester Conte Courthouse,
but said he was “thinking out loud” and “decided to run it up the
flagpole.” I’m thinking that it’s time to divorce the idea and lower
the darned flag, because no compelling reason exists to name the
courthouse after the uninspiring Mr. Conte, unless we wanted to be
whimsical and call it the Boo Radley Building or The Catch Me if You
Can County Courthouse.
Otherwise, let’s move on. Plus, if we named the courthouse for our
elusive DA, the building would have to incorporate all sorts of
secret passageways and underground tunnels and perhaps a Cone of
Silence Common Room and a bunch of telephones that ring
indefinitely. Why, I’ll bet that when Levi Lincoln was governor, he
returned more calls in one day than John Conte did in three decades,
and the telephone hadn’t even been invented yet.
(In case no one noticed, not a single female name has been floated
for the courthouse, although women weren’t allowed to practice law
in the United States for years, perhaps out of fear that females
would simply talk jurors to death rather than actually convince them
of anything).
James D. O’Brien Jr., former president of the Worcester County Bar
Association, has suggested to current bar president Steven Abraham
that a committee be formed within the bar to tackle the naming
issue. Mr. O’Brien’s father was the former Worcester mayor whose
name graces the landing field at Worcester airport, whether most
people know it.
“This ought to be considered with a degree of care, because it could
polarize people,” Mr. O’Brien said. “We should tread cautiously. The
threshold question is: Should it be named for anyone? That should be
addressed first.”
Mr. Abraham noted that he formed an ad hoc transition committee
within the bar to address various issues surrounding the new
courthouse, including lack of space and parking, issues he considers
more important — albeit less entertaining — than the naming of the
building. (He also said he invited John Conte to serve on the
committee, but Conte failed to show for the first meeting. IF you
can believe it.) Mr. Abraham said the ad hoc committee might well be
poised to consider the naming issue as well.
“If it was up to me, I’d just call it the Worcester County
Courthouse,” Mr. Abraham said, because that’s what people will call
it anyway. “Some people believe it should be named after no one.
Who’s to make a value judgment about who’s more significant than
someone else?”
I will. If we decide to put a name to the courthouse, Levi Lincoln
fits best. Or maybe John Meagher. Anyone, really, but the guy who
just happened to be D.A. when the courthouse was built.
Contact Dianne Williamson by e-mail at
dwilliamson@telegram.com
March 17, 2006
Conte courthouse?
Editorial, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
It’s largely
ceremonial what name, if any, we give to the new county courthouse
on Main Street in Worcester, but, ceremonial or not, the symbolism
of naming it after incumbent District Attorney John J. Conte would
be regrettable. And we’ll have the opportunity to regret it for a
long time.
This is not a broad-brush knock on John Conte’s tenure. He has been
hardworking and, if nothing else, durable. But the whispered
consensus of lawyers, judges, other DAs is that his record is hardly
stellar.
He is certainly unresponsive to the media, which is his right, but
he is equally unresponsive to the public, which isn’t right. His few
public appearances and utterances are limited to re-election time.
So when it serves him, he’s out there, but when it serves the
public, he’s AWOL
It is no secret
that political loyalty is Qualification No. 1 in the district
attorney’s office. Not a crime, but not the best way to assemble a
crack staff to put the bad guys behind bars.
The DA carved out a rather grand office suite for himself in the new
building. That might go down as the usual political
self-aggrandizement if it weren’t that the building is already
overtaxed with too many criminal divisions. John Conte didn’t do
that, the state planners did, but Mr. Conte wouldn’t contain his own
expansiveness to make things better. Some argue that justice is
better served if the DA’s offices are not even in the courthouse.
John Conte has done a workmanlike job as district attorney, but the
mere coincidence that he was the DA when a new courthouse was built
and that years ago he came out of the preening patch on Beacon Hill
is not reason enough to move his name to the rafters.
March 15, 2006
Judge added to list of names for new courthouse
Bronislaus Kush,
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
COLUMN: WORCESTER
DIARY
Eric J. Salomonsson, a local history buff, especially when it comes
to things Swedish, has tossed out another candidate for whom the new
state courthouse might be named.
He proposes that
the imposing structure on Main Street be named after former Probate
Court Judge Carl E. Wahlstrom.
Judge Wahlstrom served on the bench from 1940 until his retirement
in 1972. He died in 1976.
The longtime jurist, who also taught law at Northeastern University,
was a nationally known authority on Abraham Lincoln and possessed a
large collection of the former president's memorabilia.
Judge Wahlstrom's collection included about 1,200 books, including
one from Lincoln's private library, autographs, and several Civil
War documents.
He wrote a book about Lincoln, edited a second, and wrote several
articles about the Great Emancipator.
The judge, who served as assistant register of probate from 1926 to
1940, was also honored by three presidents.
Dwight D. Eisenhower presented the judge with a copy of his own
painting of Lincoln, while Lyndon B. Johnson personally invited the
jurist, in 1965, to a Lincoln birthday party in Washington, D.C.
President John F. Kennedy, meanwhile, wined and dined Mr. Wahlstrom
at the White House and insisted he have the use of the presidential
limousine and chauffeur during the judge's visit to the nation's
capital.
The judge also served on the boards of numerous local organizations.
The state Legislature will eventually decide on a name for the
building.
Candidates under consideration include Worcester's Medal of Honor
winners and abolitionist Levi Lincoln, who served as a governor and
as the city's first mayor.
Afflicted with multiple sclerosis, Patricia Jacques died in the fall
of 2000.
Though she passed away almost six years ago, the 50-year-old woman
still lives on through the work of her niece, Elaina Jacques.
Last year, the Doherty Memorial High School student organized a
benefit rock concert to help fight the illness that claimed her
aunt's life.
About 350 kids showed up and $4,900 was raised.
This year, Elaina, the daughter of Mark and Carmen Jacques, is at it
again.
The 16-year-old junior plans to hold a second benefit from 7 to 11
p.m. April 8 at Temple Emanuel on May Street.
The bands appearing include: One Side Blue, Jonny and the Pick
Pockets, DXH, Airport Hill and Opening Night.
Union Hill residents got some great news last week when the state
shelled out $500,000 to the Oak Hill Community Development Corp. for
the construction of six new housing units.
This week, the nonprofit organization announced that it had also
received another $226,500 from NeighborWorks America for its
economic development, affordable housing and other initiatives.
"This funding will help address many needs of Worcester's low-income
residents, including raising awareness about predatory lending and
the benefits of better-informed financial decision making," said Jim
Cruickshank, Oak Hill's executive director.
Created by Congress in 1978, NeighborWorks is charged with
increasing home ownership opportunities for low-income families and
formulating development strategies in poorer neighborhoods.
Over the last year, NeighborWorks has allocated about $75 million to
240 organizations in 4,500 cities and towns.
There hasn't been much business activity at the old Worcester Common
Outlets downtown, since the stalemate developed between the city and
Berkeley Investments Inc. over the agreement that's supposed to pave
the way for redevelopment of the structure into the CitySquare
mixed-use development.
However, the Subway sandwich shop has moved downstairs from its
location on the second floor of the old Food Court
The eatery is now on the first floor of the Mechanics Bank tower,
just opposite the YMCA's day care center, which also moved recently.
That section of the complex also contains the local offices of
Berkeley.
By the way, the direct entrance from the Mechanics building to the
vacant mall is now blocked to pedestrians, not that there's anything
to see in what used to be the main shell of the former shopping
center.
Until the CitySquare project gets going, the Subway looks like it
will have to rely on the tower itself for customers, given its
location.
The Subway is in the rear of the Mechanics building in a spot that
is not very visible, near the entrance that's across from what was
once known as the Filene's parking garage at Commercial and Foster
streets.
Subway management has placed a "now open sign" on the Commercial
Street side of the mall to attract customers.
Mayor Timothy P. Murray was honored recently by arts advocates for
his commitment to promoting arts and cultural offerings in the
Worcester area.
Mr. Murray was given the Local Leadership Circle Award by the
Massachusetts Cultural Council and Massachusetts Advocates for the
Arts, Sciences, and Humanities.
The award was presented at the Statehouse last Wednesday, during a
program that featured Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops,
as the keynote speaker.
Six others also received prizes for their contributions.
Bronislaus B. Kush can be reached with comments or suggestions for
Worcester Diary at (508) 793-9464 or by e-mail to
March 12, 2006
Levi Lincoln's
name on courthouse would be fitting
Albert B. Southwick, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
Most Massachusetts courthouses are named for their location, not for a person as federal courthouses customarily are.
However, if the
powers that be decide to name Worcester's new courthouse after Levi
Lincoln (1749-1820), they will have a lot of history to back them
up.
There aren't many Worcester personages who:
Served as governor of Massachusetts;
Served as attorney general of the United States;
Fathered two sons who became state governors, one of whom also was
elected the first mayor of Worcester;
Helped abolish slavery in Massachusetts, the first state to do so,
80 years before his famous cousin issued the Emancipation
Proclamation;
Was triply related by marriage to Paul Revere.
When it comes to accomplishments, few can match old Levi's record.
He was born in Hingham but moved to Worcester early on and started
his law practice before the Revolution. In 1779 he served on the
committee that wrote the Massachusetts Constitution, oldest on the
continent.
He soon became prominent in the legal profession. The exodus of
royalist lawyers after the Revolution opened all sorts of
opportunities. Another local lawyer said of him, "He was without
question the head of the bar (in Worcester County).... He was
retained in every case of importance."
He won case after case, including the famed Quork Walker case that
ended slavery in Massachusetts. His summation words still ring: "Is
it not a law of Nature that all men are equal and free? Is not the
law of nature the law of God? Is not the law of God then against
slavery?" The 12 jurors listened, deliberated and Quork Walker went
free, probably the last man to endure bondage in Massachusetts.
Did Mr. Lincoln ever discuss the issue of slavery with President
Thomas Jefferson, who appointed him attorney general of the United
States? I have no way of knowing.
He did not win all his cases. The most famous of those he lost was
that of Bathsheba Spooner, the Brookfield daughter of a notorious
royalist. In 1778, while the Revolutionary War still raged, she
arranged for her lover, a former British soldier, and two other men
to club her husband senseless and throw his body down a well.
At the trial, Mr. Lincoln argued an insanity defense. He said that
she had been badly mistreated by her husband, who was unfaithful to
her and sometimes brought his mistresses into the house as kitchen
servants. But the jury didn't buy it and on July 2, 1778, Bathsheba
and her three colleagues were hanged some place east of the
Worcester Common while a crowd of 5,000 watched.
At a time when most of Levi Lincoln's friends were Federalists, he
was a Jeffersonian Republican, one of the few prominent ones in
Massachusetts. As such, he was the target of many brickbats,
including some from Isaiah Thomas, editor and publisher of the Spy,
Worcester's leading weekly newspaper.
Mr. Thomas was a stout Federalist, devoted to the memory of George
Washington. Mr. Lincoln's rise in Jeffersonian circles set off
something of a feud. He boldly spoke out against the political
activities of the Massachusetts clergy, mostly Federalist. At that
time, the Congregational Church here was the established church,
supported by taxes. But its political power dwindled after Mr.
Lincoln's slashing attacks, and its special privileges were
abolished in 1832.When Mr. Lincoln was appointed attorney general,
the Spy sneered at it as a "perfect sinecure" and ridiculed some of
Mr. Lincoln's writings as filled with "scurrility and falsehood."
On Feb. 29, 1804, under the sarcastic head "Death Blow to the Spy,"
the paper recounted how one of "Farmer Lincoln's" sons had come to
the Spy office and cancelled his father's subscription, which "we
fear will prove an irreparable loss to our interest, of one dollar
and seventy-five cents per annum!"
The report went on to note that "Lincoln receives a salary of 3000
dollars for vilifying the friends of WASHINGTON and ADAMS ... ."
However, when Mr. Lincoln died in 1820, the Spy, under different
management, extolled his memory.
He sired a remarkable family, although he didn't live to see some of
the more remarkable achievements. In 1825 his son, Levi II, was
elected governor of Massachusetts and was re-elected nine straight
times. He left Beacon Hill in 1834 to serve in Congress. In 1848, he
was elected the first mayor of Worcester, which had won its city
charter in 1826.
Another of Levi's sons, Enoch, was elected governor of Maine in
1826, and would most likely have had a distinguished career in
politics had he not died unexpectedly at age 40.
Levi Sr. more or less retired from politics after the end of Thomas
Jefferson's administration. In 1809, when President James Madison
offered him the post of secretary of state, he declined on the
grounds of failing eyesight. His last years were spent on his farm
in Worcester, where he became quite a noted horticulturalist.
He had an unusual connection to Paul Revere, the famed Revolutionary
figure. Mr. Revere's daughter, Deborah, married Amos Lincoln, who
was Levi's brother. When Deborah died, leaving nine children, Amos
married her sister, Elizabeth. Another of Levi's brothers, Jedediah,
married Mary Revere, another of Paul Revere's daughters.
Anyway, in my opinion, the Lincoln name on the new courthouse would
be entirely fitting.
February 28, 2006
Courthouse
name game 3-way race -
DA, war heroes vying with jurist
John J. Monahan, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
BOSTON - A scramble is on over the naming of the new Worcester
courthouse, with various lawmakers proposing that the new building
be named after local war heroes, a historical legal pioneer or the
sitting district attorney.
State Rep. James B. Leary, D-Worcester, had proposed earlier this
month that the courthouse be named after famed jurist and lawyer
Levi Lincoln, whose legal legacy was memorialized when the city
named the downtown square next to the current courthouse after him
and his family many decades ago.
Since Mr. Leary
made that suggestion, state Rep. Karyn E. Polito, R-Shrewsbury, has
joined with state Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, in an effort to
have the courthouse named after District Attorney John J. Conte, the
former state senator who has served as Worcester district attorney
for three decades.
State Rep. John P. Fresolo, D-Worcester, meanwhile, has advanced
another proposal and is filing legislation this week seeking to name
the courthouse after two of the city's most prominent war heroes,
Marine 1st Lt. John V. Powers and Navy Lt. Commander Joseph T.
O'Callahan, both of whom were awarded the Medal of Honor for heroic
actions in the Pacific during World War II.
Mr. Fresolo said yesterday that to avoid any public debate or
controversy over the naming of the courthouse, legislators and
others interested in naming the building should agree on a format to
review the nominations and come up with a consensus.
"I personally think we should sit down and have a committee to go
over each and every name submitted," Mr. Fresolo said. State Rep.
Vincent A. Pedone, D-Worcester, said he believes there are more
important issues involved in the courthouse project than finding a
name.
"I think we should be concentrating on making sure it is built
properly and making sure that there is enough operating space to do
the people's business, before we get into the ceremonial tug of war
regarding a name," he said.
Mr. Pedone said a widely held view among lawyers and other
professionals who use the courthouse is that the Romney
administration made a mistake revising plans to require that the
building house the juvenile court and the Worcester probate court in
addition to the District and Superior Courts it was initially
designed to house.
"That is the issue we ought to be working on rather than the
foolishness of a naming war."
Lt. Powers died on Namur Island in the Pacific Feb. 1, 1944, in
fierce fighting with the Japanese. After being severely wounded in
the stomach, he "continued to advance on an enemy pillbox which he
destroyed, and while advancing on another enemy position, he was
fatally cut down by their gunfire," according to a description of
his brave actions provided by the American Legion post. A statue of
Lt. Powers stands at the side of Worcester City Hall.
Lt. Commander O'Callahan, chaplain aboard the aircraft carrier USS
Franklin, "valiantly braved the bombings and machine gunning by
Japanese aircraft" to come to the aid of wounded and dying
servicemen, the legionnaires said. According to the legion account,
he "went to the aid of his men and his ship in the midst of
violently exploding bombs, shells, rockets and other armament to
minister to the wounded and dying, with no concern for his personal
safety."
He also directed the jettisoning of live ammunition and the flooding
of the magazine and then personally manned a fire hose "to cool hot,
armed bombs rolling on the deck," during the attack. He later
returned to Worcester to become a member of the faculty at the
College of the Holy Cross.
February 16, 2006
REGIONAL DIGEST
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
Leary proposes
Lincoln for court name
If state Rep. James B. Leary, D-Worcester, has his way, the new
county courthouse will be named after one of the city's prominent
legal figures: Levi Lincoln Sr.
In a letter to his colleagues in the Central Massachusetts
legislative delegation, Mr. Leary noted that Mr. Lincoln was the
U.S. attorney general and secretary of state under Thomas Jefferson;
a member of Congress, a governor and lieutenant governor of
Massachusetts, member of the Constitutional Convention of 1779-80
that drafted the Massachusetts Constitution; clerk of courts and
judge of probate for Worcester County; member of the Massachusetts
House of Representatives; and member of the Governor's Council.
He also was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but had to decline
the appointment because of declining health and near blindness at
the time.
"Even more important and long lasting than his service in public
office was his historic contribution as a lawyer. In 1781, only one
year or so after Lincoln served in the Constitutional Convention
that drafted the Massachusetts Constitution, he argued a case before
the Supreme Judicial Court that resulted in the holding that slavery
was inconsistent with the guarantees of that very same constitution.
Through Lincoln's efforts and skills as an attorney, slavery was
abolished in Massachusetts over 80 years before being abolished
nationally," Mr. Leary wrote.
