[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 80 (Thursday, June 22, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S5658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                IN HONOR OF THE HONORABLE NEIL L. LYNCH

 Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I am honored to rise today and pay 
tribute to a public servant who has selflessly contributed his legal 
knowledge and experience to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its 
residents for almost 50 years. Today, the Honorable Neil L. Lynch, 
Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, gathers 
with this friends and family to celebrate a career marked by military 
service, a devotion to family, and a true love of the law.
  Beginning in 1952 with his service as a First Lieutenant Adjutant in 
the 42nd Air Rescue Squadron of the United States Air Force, Justice 
Lynch set a standard of achievement and professionalism that would 
carry him to the pinnacle of the legal profession. After working at 
Hale, Sanderson, Byrne & Morton, he began teaching at the new England 
School of Law. He served as Chief Legal Counsel and Secretary-Treasurer 
at the Massachusetts Port Authority, worked again in the private sector 
with Herlihy & O'Brian, then return to New England School of law as a 
Professor of Law.
  Judge Lynch's skills and understanding of the law were well known in 
Massachusetts by the 1970's, and few were surprised when Governor Ed 
King appointed him to be his Chief Legal Counsel from 1979 to 1981. 
This ascension was completed by the Governor's nomination of Justice 
Lynch for a seat on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, a 
position he has held with unquestioned professionalism and integrity 
since 1981.
  While a member of the Court, Justice Lynch has reached out to all 
levels of law enforcement in an effort to pool and maximize the 
considerable knowledge and resources amongst his peers. As Dean and 
President of the Flaschner Judicial Institute, Justice Lynch oversaw a 
professional enhancement program that shares information on new 
initiatives and changes in the field with his colleagues, he returned 
to academia to teach at the Massachusetts School of Law, and issued the 
landmark study, ``Commission to Study Racial and Ethnic Bias in the 
Courts,'' in 1994.
  Now, instead of navigating through complex legal issues, Justice 
Lynch will be navigating his beloved ``Sui Generis'' through the 
waterways of the East Coast. He leaves the court to spend more time 
with Kathleen and his family and their growing number of grandchildren. 
Mr. President, I join all of justice Lynch's colleagues, past and 
present, and all of the people he has touched in the course of his 
professional life, in thanking him for his dedication to justice and 
equality under the law.

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