Court Opinion

ID: 9725866
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 12:16:38.444338+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:20.773431
License: Public Domain

Nolan, J.
(dissenting). In 1975, this court unanimously granted the petition for reinstatement of an unrepentant but convicted perjurer in spite of an adverse recommendation by the Board of Bar Overseers. Matter of Hiss, 368 Mass. 447 (1975). In this case, the Board of Bar Overseers recommends the reinstatement of Gordon, but the court denies his petition.
In trying to gouge the impact of Gordon’s readmission to the bar on the public, the court reminds us of the scandal of the Boston Common Garage cases and describes them as “a notorious saga of corruption and theft.” However, by comparison with the national notoriety of the Hiss trial (see United States v. Hiss, 185 F.2d 822 [2d Cir. 1950], cert. denied, 340 U.S. 948 [1951]), Gordon’s prosecution was only a local media attraction. Gordon’s conduct for which he was convicted was reprehensible and all the more so because he was a judge at the time, but, to his credit, he does not remain obdurate and unregenerate while protesting his innocence. I find it most difficult to understand the reason for the difference in treatment between Hiss and Gordon.
I would allow Gordon’s petition for reinstatement on condition that he pass the Massachusetts bar examination.