Joseph M. Jabar (born July 9, 1946) is an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the

Maine Supreme Judicial Court The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state of Maine's judicial system. It is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. Between 1820 and 1839, justices served lifetime ...

from 2009 to 2024. He was appointed to the bench in 2009, after serving as a judge on the Superior Court. He was not reappointed to serve on the court and resigned on January 31, 2024.

Early years and athletic career

A native of

Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. A college town, the city is home to Colby College, a New England Small College Athletic Conference, NESCAC college, and Thomas College. As ...

, Jabar attended Waterville High School, where he was captain of the football team and co-captain of the basketball and baseball teams, earning all-state honors in football. He went on to attend

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

, graduating in 1968. Jabar played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

at Colby under legendary coach John Winkin. A right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

, Jabar served as team co-captain, and eventually had his jersey retired by the team. While at Colby, Jabar played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

(CCBL), pitching for the league's Yarmouth team in 1965, and for Chatham in 1966 and 1967. Over three seasons in the CCBL, Jabar posted a 21–4 record, and won the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award in 1966 and 1967. In 1967, his

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

at Chatham was future

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

all-star Thurman Munson. Munson was the CCBL's MVP and batting champion, and the battery of Jabar and Munson led Chatham to its first league championship. Jabar was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2003, and served as honorary captain at the CCBL All-Star Game at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

in 2011. After graduating from Colby, Jabar signed as a free agent with the

Seattle Pilots The Seattle Pilots were an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington, during the 1969 Major League Baseball season. During their single-season existence, the Pilots played their home games at Sick's Stadium and were a me ...

, and played in 1969 with Seattle's Single A affiliate Newark Co-Pilots of the New York–Penn League. He posted a 10–4 record with a 3.99

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in 106 innings at Newark under manager Earl Torgeson. After just one professional season, Jabar returned to his studies, graduating in 1971 from the

University of Maine School of Law The University of Maine School of Law (UMaine Law or Maine Law) is a Public university, public law school in Portland, Maine. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and is Maine's only law school. It is also part of the University of Ma ...

. While in law school, Jabar coached basketball at Andover Institute, and also coached the freshman team at the University of Southern Maine. In 2017, he was inducted into the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Fame.

Legal career

Following graduation, Jabar served as a federal prosecutor for the Justice Department in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He returned to Maine and served four years as District Attorney for Kennebec County and Somerset County. For twenty-five years he was a member of the law firm of Jabar, Batten, Ringer and Murphy of Waterville.

Judicial career

He was appointed to the Superior Court in 2001 by Governor

Angus King Angus Stanley King Jr. (born March 31, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician who has served since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Maine. A Independent politician, political independent, h ...

and he was re-appointed by Governor

John Baldacci John Elias Baldacci (born January 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd governor of Maine from 2003 to 2011. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he also served in the United States House of Representatives from 199 ...

in 2008. He was appointed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court by Governor John Baldacci on September 1, 2009, and was reappointed in 2016. He left office on January 31, 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jabar, Joseph 1946 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Chatham Anglers players Colby College alumni Colby Mules baseball players Maine lawyers Justices of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court People from Waterville, Maine Superior court judges in the United States University of Maine School of Law alumni Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Justices of the Maine Superior Court