Frank J. Williams | |
---|---|
39th Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court | |
In office 2001–2008 | |
Appointed by | Lincoln Almond |
Preceded by | Joseph R. Weisberger |
Succeeded by | Paul Suttell |
Personal details | |
Born | Richmond,Rhode Island | August 24,1940
Nationality | American |
Education | Boston University Boston University School of Law Bryant University |
Civilian awards | Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois The Order of Lincoln |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Rank | Captain |
Military awards | Combat Infantryman Badge Bronze Star Medal Three Air Medals Army Commendation Medal National Defense Service Medal Vietnam Service Medal Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal |
Frank J. Williams (born August 24,1940) is a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island,a notable Abraham Lincoln scholar and author,and a justice of the Military Commission Review Panel. [1] [2]
Frank Williams was born in Richmond,Rhode Island,in 1940,"the grandson of Italian immigrant parents." [3] He graduated from Cranston East High School,Boston University and Boston University School of Law,and he received a master's degree in taxation from Bryant University.[ citation needed ]
From 1962 to 1967,he served as a captain in the U.S. Army and was stationed in West Germany and South Vietnam. His military awards include the Combat Infantryman Badge and Bronze Star Medal,three Air Medals and the Army Commendation Medal,the National Defense Service Medal,Vietnam Service Medal with two campaign stars the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with silver citation star and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal for his military service. [1] [4]
Williams served as a delegate to the 1986 Rhode Island Constitutional Convention. [5]
He served as town moderator of Richmond,Rhode Island,and town solicitor. Governor Lincoln Almond appointed Williams to the Supreme Court in 1995. He was elevated to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 2001.[ citation needed ]
Williams ruled in a 1997 case involving public access to the Narragansett Town Beach. [5] It had long been accepted that the Rhode Island Constitution guarantees free access to all state shorelines by means of walking along the shoreline below the high tide line (a right called "lateral access"). [5] Activists at the Narragansett Town beach argued that this right also includes unobstructed access from the land (called "perpendicular access"). [5]
Williams sided with the Town of Narragansett,ruling in court that Rhode Island's Constitution "provides absolutely no indication that a right of perpendicular access across the property of others exists," and therefore the town was within their rights to charge an access fee. As of 2021,Narragansett Town Beach remains the only public beach in the state which charges for beach access. [5]
In 2003,President Bush appointed Williams through the Secretary of Defense to be a member of the United States Court of Military Commission Review. [1] As of July 2007,he replaced Griffin Bell as the Chief Judge. [2] He served as Chief Judge of the US Court of Military Commissions until December 2009.
Williams has been involved with numerous aspects of Abraham Lincoln scholarship and collection for much of his life,beginning in his own boyhood. He recalled "I used to spend my 25 cents for lunch money on used Lincoln books". [6]
Williams was president of the Abraham Lincoln Association,the Lincoln Group of Boston,and the Ulysses S. Grant Association. He was a member of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and was the founding chair of The Lincoln Forum,served as its chair for 23 years,and is now chairman emeritus. [7] In 2005,Williams received The Lincoln Forum's Richard Nelson Current Award of Achievement. [8]
In 2010,Williams was elected to the board of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation. He is an Associate Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States,an organization founded by Union officers who served during the American Civil War. Williams was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2009 as a Bicentennial Laureate. [9]
In 2017,he and his wife Virginia donated their collection of thousands of Lincoln- and Civil War-related books,documents,pieces of artwork,and other collectibles to Mississippi State University. The collection,now known as The Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana,is subdivided into two collections:The Lincoln Book and Pamphlet Collection,and the Civil War/Collateral Book and Pamphlet Collection. Earlier,while president of the Ulysses S. Grant Association,Williams had been involved in efforts to move Grant's papers to Mississippi State from Southern Illinois University. [10]
While on the Rhode Island Supreme Court,Williams estimated that he had used in his rulings 100 quotes attributed to Lincoln. [6]
He is the author,co-author,or editor of numerous books on Lincoln and Civil War topics including Judging Lincoln,The Mary Lincoln Enigma [11] ,Lincoln as Hero,and The Lincoln Assassination Riddle:Revisiting the Crime of the Nineteenth Century.
Frank J. Williams stepped down from the Rhode Island Supreme Court at the end of December 2009 and has lectured at several universities and institutes,most notably at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. Williams is also an accomplished amateur chef,and appeared as a guest on the cooking show, Ciao Italia ,with Mary Ann Esposito. [12]
North Kingstown is a town in Washington County,Rhode Island,United States,and is part of the Providence metropolitan area. The population was 27,732 in the 2020 census. North Kingstown is home to the birthplace of American portraitist Gilbert Stuart,who was born in the village of Saunderstown. Within the town is Quonset Point,location of the former Naval Air Station Quonset Point,known for the invention of the Quonset hut,as well as the historic village of Wickford.
The Narragansett people are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island. Today,Narragansett people are enrolled in the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. They gained federal recognition in 1983.
Lincoln Carter Almond was an American attorney and politician who served as the 72nd Governor of Rhode Island from 1995 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party,he was previously the United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island from 1969 to 1978 and again from 1981 until 1993.
Lincoln's Birthday is a legal,public holiday in some U.S. states,observed on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth on February 12,1809 in Hodgenville,Kentucky. Connecticut,Illinois,Indiana,Michigan,Ohio,Texas,California,Missouri,and New York observe the holiday.
William Sprague IV Governor of Rhode Island when he answered office from 1860 to 1863,and U.S. Senator from 1863 to 1875. He participated in the First Battle of Bull Run during the American Civil War while he was a sitting Governor.
Colonel Frederic L. Borch is a career United States Army attorney with a master's degree in national security studies,who served as chief prosecutor of the Guantanamo military commissions. He resigned his commission in August 2005 after three prosecutors complained that he had rigged the system against providing due process to defendants. He was replaced by Robert L. Swann
The Rhode Island Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices,all selected by the Governor of Rhode Island from candidates vetted by the Judicial Nominating Commission. Each justice enjoys lifetime tenure and no mandatory retirement age,similar to Federal judges. Justices may be removed only if impeached for improper conduct by a vote of the Rhode Island House of Representatives and convicted by trial in the Rhode Island Senate.
The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC) was the congressionally created,14-member federal commission focused on planning and commemorating the 200th birthday of the United States' 16th president on February 12,2009. The commission served for ten years,from 2000 to 2010. Its official successor organization,announced in 2011 with an expanded board and broadened mission,is the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation.
Wingate Hayes (1823–1877) was Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives and U.S. District Attorney for the district of Rhode Island during the American Civil War.
Harold Holzer is a scholar of Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the American Civil War Era. He serves as director of Hunter College's Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute. Holzer previously spent twenty-three years as senior vice president for public affairs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York before retiring in 2015.
Justice Williams may refer to:
Jonathan Russell Bullock was a justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
David Davis was an American politician and jurist who was a U.S. senator from Illinois and associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. He also served as Abraham Lincoln's campaign manager at the 1860 Republican National Convention,engineering Lincoln's successful nomination for president by that party.
Samuel Hubbel Treat Jr. was an American lawyer and jurist who served as a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
The Abraham Lincoln Association(ALA) is an American association advancing studies on Abraham Lincoln and disseminating scholarship about Lincoln. The ALA was founded in 1908 to lead a national celebration of Lincoln's 100th birthday and continues to mark his birthday with an annual banquet and symposium. The ALA holds no archive of materials and instead functions primarily as a scholarly forum. It remains "the nation's oldest and largest Lincoln organization."
The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation is the successor organization of the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC),which was created by Congress and the President of the United States to plan the commemoration of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday in 2009. The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission sunset on April 30,2010
Florence K. Murray (1916–2004) was a high-ranking officer in the Women's Army Corps,the first female state senator in Rhode Island,the first female judge in Rhode Island and the first female member of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
Edward B. Green was an American attorney and jurist who was appointed by Benjamin Harrison as the first chief justice of the Oklahoma Territory Supreme Court on May 4,1890. Green,presided over a three-man panel of judges,who were also appointed by President Harrison. The other two judges,known as Associate Justices,were John G. Clark,from Illinois and Abraham J. Seay,from Missouri. Other court officials included Charles H. Filson,as clerk,Warren G. Lurty,as marshal and Horace Speed,as United States Attorney.
Chief Justice Frank Williams, chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Williams was as an associate justice of the Superior Court of Rhode Island from 1995 to 2001. He served as an Army captain in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantry Badge, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Silver Star for Valor. He earned his law degree from Boston University in 1970 and a master's degree in taxation from Bryant College in 1986.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)