Samuel Edward Zoll (June 20, 1934 – April 26, 2011) was an American lawyer, judge and politician. He began his career as a high school teacher then became a lawyer, politician, then a judge. Later in life he was named to be Chief Justice of the District Courts in Massachusetts.

Early life and education

Zoll was born in

Peabody, Massachusetts Peabody () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 54,481 at the time of the 2020 United States census. Peabody is located in the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore region of Massachusetts, and is known ...

. His father was an immigrant from Lithuania, and his mother was a native of nearby Haverhill. Zoll was educated at Salem High School and attained a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree, both from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. He attended the

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the Private university, private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in Downtown Boston, downtown Boston, across the street from the Boston Common and the Fr ...

receiving a

Juris Doctor Degree A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other jur ...

(JD) degree in 1962.

Career

Zoll was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

veteran who served in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. Zoll worked as a high school teacher at Danvers High School from 1958 to 1962. While teaching, he served on the Salem City Council (from 1958 until 1966, being President of the Council from 1959 to 1960). After graduating in law, Zoll worked as a lawyer. He was a State Representative of Salem from 1965 to 1969. John Adams Courthouse SJC Massachusetts

Zoll successfully ran for office as the Mayor of Salem, serving a full term. He left the mayoral office before the end of the second term in 1973 when he accepted his first judicial appointment. In 1973, he was appointed by Governor Sargent to be Special Justice of the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

District Court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

. In 1974, he was appointed again by Governor Sargent as Presiding Justice of the Salem District Court. Zoll became Chief Justice of the Massachusetts District Courts in 1976 when he was first appointed by Governor Michael S. Dukakis. Following the passage of the court reform bill in 1993, Chief Justice Zoll was then reappointed as Chief Justice of the District Court in 1998 He chaired the Commonwealth Joint Labor Management Committee which oversees police and fire unions negotiations with the government. He retired on June 20, 2004, when he reached the age of 70, the mandatory retirement age for judges.

Honors and awards

* The media centre of Salem High School was named The Samuel E. Zoll Instructional Media Center. * In 2009, Zoll was the keynote speaker for the 100th anniversary of the Congregation Sons of Israel. * He was awarded honorary degrees from Suffolk University and

Salem State College Salem State University (Salem State or SSU) is a public university in Salem, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1854, it is the oldest and largest institute of higher education on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore and is p ...

* In 1991, he received the Brandeis University Award for Distinguished Public Service.

Family life

Zoll and his wife Marjorie lived in Salem. They had four children and five grandchildren.

Scott Brown

U.S. Senator

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State *Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, born ...

has recalled that, aged twelve, he was brought before Judge Zoll in Salem for

shoplifting Shoplifting (also known as shop theft, shop fraud, retail theft, or retail fraud) is the theft of goods from a retail establishment during business hours. The terms ''shoplifting'' and ''shoplifter'' are not usually defined in law, and genera ...

. Zoll asked Brown if his siblings would like seeing him play basketball in jail, and required him to write a 1,500 word essay on the topic as his punishment. Brown said, "That was the last time I ever stole, the last time I ever thought bout stealing.. The other day I was at Staples, and something was in my cart that I didn't pay for. I had to bring it back because ... I thought of Judge Zoll."

Other rulings

Zoll once required a family to eat dinner together for 30 days and sent a parole officer to make sure they were doing it.

Death

Zoll died on April 26, 2011, at his home in Salem after a year-long battle with

gallbladder cancer Gallbladder cancer is a relatively uncommon cancer, with an incidence of fewer than 2 cases per 100,000 people per year in the United States. It is particularly common in central and South America, central and eastern Europe, Japan and northern Ind ...

. He was 76 years of age.

Note

:1. Zoll retained the title of Presiding Justice at Salem District Court after being appointed Chief Justice of the District Court System. David T. Doyle (1976 to 1998) and Robert Cornetta (1998 to 2004) served as acting Presiding Justices.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoll, Samuel 1934 births 2011 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Massachusetts Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts Massachusetts city council members Massachusetts District Court judges Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts lawyers Mayors of Salem, Massachusetts Suffolk University Law School alumni Boston University School of Management alumni Deaths from gallbladder cancer in the United States American people of Lithuanian descent 20th-century Massachusetts state court judges 20th-century American lawyers Salem High School (Massachusetts) alumni 20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court