Retiring Judge Philip Contant feted with surprise party during Law Day observance - MassLive.com
SPRINGFIELD — Judge Philip A Contant walked into Courtroom 2 of the Roderick Ireland Courthouse thinking he would merely be presiding over the annual Law Day celebration.
Instead he found himself as the surprise guest of honor at a retirement party.
In a courtroom packed with judges, lawyers, politicians, court personnel and members of his family, Contant, a longtime judge who is due to retire Wednesday, quickly learned he had been duped.
“Judge Contant, you’ve been had,” said First Justice Kevin V. Maltby.
“You have been the target of a vast and wide conspiracy stretching from the far reaches of the trial court to the Bar Association. A conspiracy to transform Law Day to a morning acknowledging your retirement.”
Conant, who had prepared remarks for a conventional Law Day observance, could only sigh.
“Well! The whole plan is out the window,” Conant said. “Thank you all for throwing me this curveball.”
Typically, Law Day celebrations include two presentations of the John M. Greaney Awards, one to a judge or lawyer with distinguished service to the law, and one to a person who works in the law but is not a lawyer or judge.
Caitlin F. Glenn, the assistant executive director of the Hampden Bar Association was presented with one of the awards.
And then Contant was surprised to learn he had been selected to receive the second Greaney Award.
Maltby noted that Contant has served on the bench longer than some of the lawyers who appear before him have been alive.
Since his appointment in April 1984, Maltby said Contant time on the bench translates into 13,910 days, 457 months or an “eye-popping” 38 years and one month.
He invited other judges in the courtroom to say what they were doing in 1984, and the answers ranged from finishing high school, finishing college, or just starting a private practice.
Matlby volunteered that he was in the third grade.
When he asked people in the courtroom to raise their hand if they had ever come before Contant, either as a lawyer or a litigant, nearly every hand in the room went up.
“Judge Contant, look at this. I like to refer to that as a legacy.”
Contant spent most of his career presiding over Westfield District Court.
In 2018 he reached age 70, the mandatory age of retirement for Massachusetts. But he immediately transitioned into the role of a recall judge, a part-time appointment intended to help out with judicial vacancies. He continued in that role through the pandemic.
Maltby praised Contant for his dedication, commitment and compassion, and said his retirement is a loss for the Massachusetts courts.
He noted that every one ascending to the bench in Massachusetts is provided with an instructional textbook titled “Excellent Judges,” by the late Massachusetts Chief Justice Edward F. Hennesy.
In the book, Hennessy relates that exceptional judges are known for their work ethic, courage, courtesy, compassion and modesty, Maltby said.
“If those words don’t describe Judge Contant, I don’t know what words do,” Maltby said.
Outside the textbook, Contant has himself been a textbook example, even after 38 years, of treating all before him with dignity and respect, he said.
Retired Westfield District Clerk of Court Carol J. Kantany Casartello presented Contant with the Greaney Award, and he stepped down off the bench to receive it.
“This means a lot to me,” Contant said. “I always say to people that I love my job today as much as I did when I started.”
He said he has always been in awe of his colleagues through the years for their dedication.
“My entire life has been public service,” he said, noting that before being appointed to the bench, he was a Springfield City Councilor for six years.
“Most public employees are very dedicated, they work hard every day and they take their jobs seriously,” he said.
He added that he wished members of the public had his vantage point to see how hard-working and dedicated court employees are.
Contant said the ceremony forced him to scrap most of his prepared remarks, but he could not walk off the stage without emphasizing what he considered a very salient point: ”Our democracy is at a very dangerous point.”
For the United States to function properly, it relies on having informed and engaged citizens participating at the local, state and federal levels.
“An alarming number of citizens seem to get their news about the government and society from unreliable and unidentified sites and platforms,” Contant said.
Everyone, but especially people involved in different aspects of the law, needs “to speak out for truth, for facts, for the common purpose and the common good,” he said. “We need to be active and aggressive in trying to reengage the public in positive civic commitment to our government and to society.”
He said it is crucial that the schools reintroduce civics and news literacy as part of the curriculum at all levels.
“It is important to educate our young people about how to recognize misinformation and how to become well-involved but also to teach people in the community how to engage.”
A draft opinion leaked to Politico suggests the U.S. Supreme Court could be overturning Roe v. Wade. If the court ultimately rules that way, how do you feel about that decision?
- I disagree with overturning Roe v. Wade
- I do not have strong feelings about the decision
To understand how we may use the results of this poll, please read our
Privacy Policy and User Agreement. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
source: https://www.masslive.com/news/2022/05/retiring-judge-philip-contant-feted-with-surprise-party-during-law-day-observance.html
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.