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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Historic Roman Catholic Judges
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Eigon
Shipmate
# 4917
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Posted
I have a friend who's writing a book about historic English judges. He's asked a couple of questions which have been answered on Ship of Fools before (for which he is most grateful) and now he has another one:
He would like to know if anyone knows of any Roman Catholic judges between Mr Justice Richard Allibone, who was appointed in 1687, and Mr Justice Day, who was appointed in 1882.
He'd also be interested to find out what the legal restrictions on becoming a judge while Catholic were, if anyone knows.
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Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
Posts: 3710 | From: Hay-on-Wye, town of books | Registered: Aug 2003
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Arch Anglo Catholic
Shipmate
# 15181
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Posted
Eigon
As far as I can recall, the restrictions were imposed by the Test Act 1673 that excluded from public office (both military and civil and therefore including the judiciary) all those who refused to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, who refused to receive communion according to the use and rites of the Church of England, or who refused to renounce belief in the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.
Although directed primarily against Roman Catholics, it also excluded Protestant nonconformists. In 1678 it was extended to members of Parliament and led to the expulsion of several Roman Catholics from the House of Lords.
The law was modified by the Act of Toleration of 1689, which enabled most non-Catholics to qualify. However, some Protestants still did not conform and were disqualified from office until the repeal of the act in the 19thC.
I would therefore be very surprised if there were any Roman Catholic judges in the time period you specify.
However, I'm always willing to be enlightened!
Posts: 144 | From: Shropshire | Registered: Sep 2009
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
A friend, a recently retired Associate Judge of the NSW Supreme Court, is a candidate for a PhD, his thesis being on the influence of Irish judges in Australia. Many were in colonial days and have left a lasting legacy. Most were Catholics.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Callan
Shipmate
# 525
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Posted
I would have thought that this was a Question To Which The Answer Is No given the legal disabilities to which Catholics were subject after the Revolution of 1688. IIRC, a Catholic could not aspire to the Bar, let alone the Bench, until Catholic Emancipation was passed in 1829.
One of the unspoken conventions of our unwritten constitution is that a Judge must combine legal excellence with being a Sound Chap and for much of the first 50 years after Catholic Emancipation 'Poping' or being of Catholic Irish extraction would have marked one out, I think, as being Unsound. Hence the lengthy hiatus between Catholic Emancipation and the first Catholic judge.
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How easy it would be to live in England, if only one did not love her. - G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 9757 | From: Citizen of the World | Registered: Jun 2001
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
It's a bit outside the requested scope, but of the current nine members of the U.S. Supreme, six (Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Roberts, Alito, and Sotomayor) are Roman Catholic. The other three (Ginsberg, Breyer, and Kagan) are all Jewish. I'm not entirely certain, but I think that when John Paul Stevens left the court in 2010 it was the first time in its history that the U.S. Supreme Court had no Protestant members.
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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roybart
Shipmate
# 17357
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Posted
Croesus, how is "Catholic " defined in this situation? (I might ask the same about "Jewish.")
Are we talking about family history? Checking a box on a questionnaire? Educational or cultural influence? Without knowing the answers to these questions, I wonder how significant these labels are, at least when applied to the contemporary USA.
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"The consolations of the imaginary are not imaginary consolations."
-- Roger Scruton
Posts: 547 | From: here | Registered: Sep 2012
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by roybart:
Croesus, how is "Catholic" defined in this situation?
I believe in this case it includes both self-declaration and baptism in the faith. How much more do we really expect for leaders in non-religious positions?
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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roybart
Shipmate
# 17357
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Posted
It's not so much what we can "expect" as to what extent do these labels tell us about where these judges are coming from as it influences or does not influence their judicial thinking.
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"The consolations of the imaginary are not imaginary consolations."
-- Roger Scruton
Posts: 547 | From: here | Registered: Sep 2012
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by roybart:
It's not so much what we can "expect" as to what extent do these labels tell us about where these judges are coming from as it influences or does not influence their judicial thinking.
Well, five of the six currently serving Roman Catholics on the Supreme Court were appointed by Republican presidents. In most of those cases their faith was intended, in part, to telegraph to Congress (and voters) the President's commitment to anti-abortion policies. Interestingly the only Protestant Supreme Court nominee in the past quarter century was Harriet Miers, whose nomination was withdrawn by Bush II due to Congressional concerns about her ideological commitment to conservative positions (and concerns about White House cronyism).
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
Oh, and David Souter. I forgot about him. He was a Protestant nominated to the Supreme Court within the past quarter century. Anyway, most Republicans consider Souter's tenure on the court to have been traitorously moderate and may have cemented their distrust of nominees without a clear record (like Miers). I remember the slogan "No More Souters" made an appearance during Mier's nomination. At any rate, being a Roman Catholic conservative is one of the easiest ways to check off the "opposes abortion" box on the Republican checklist of desired judicial positions. If you're a politically conservative Catholic that assumption will simply be made.
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Crœsos:
It's a bit outside the requested scope, but of the current nine members of the U.S. Supreme, six (Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Roberts, Alito, and Sotomayor) are Roman Catholic. The other three (Ginsberg, Breyer, and Kagan) are all Jewish. I'm not entirely certain, but I think that when John Paul Stevens left the court in 2010 it was the first time in its history that the U.S. Supreme Court had no Protestant members.
Something like 9 of the present judges of the NSW Supreme Court (out of about 35 altogether) are not just Roman Catholic by birth, but, went to St Ignatius, Riverview for their secondary education.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Eigon
Shipmate
# 4917
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Posted
Thank you to Arch Anglo Catholic and Gildas!
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Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
Posts: 3710 | From: Hay-on-Wye, town of books | Registered: Aug 2003
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Sober Preacher's Kid
Presbymethegationalist
# 12699
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Posted
Of interest, the Quebec Act, 1774 (14 Geo. III c. 83) dispensed with the Test Act in the Province of Quebec (including Ontario at that time) in order to ensure the loyalty of the French-Canadian populace and allow them to participate in the government. In this it was entirely successful and fervently Catholic Quebec adopted British institutions of government without question.
The appointment of French (and Catholic) judges dates from that time.
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NDP Federal Convention Ottawa 2018: A random assortment of Prots and Trots.
Posts: 7646 | From: Peterborough, Upper Canada | Registered: Jun 2007
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Eigon
Shipmate
# 4917
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Posted
My friend Richard has been doing a bit more research, and has found an article about the Law's attitude to Roman Catholics:
"by far the best I've ever read on the subject, called 'Catholics and the Courts in England since the Protestant Revolution' in the Fordham Law Review, Volume 9, Issue 1 (pub'd about 1940). Riveting stuff."
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Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
Posts: 3710 | From: Hay-on-Wye, town of books | Registered: Aug 2003
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