Phillip Rapoza
Phillip Rapoza was the chief justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the intermediate appellate court for the state of Massachusetts. He was appointed to the court in 1998 and became the chief justice in 2006.[1] Rapoza retired from the court on June 30, 2015.[2]
Education
Rapoza received his undergraduate degree from Yale College and his J.D. degree from the Cornell Law School.[1]
Career
Rapoza began his career serving as an assistant district attorney in Suffolk and Bristol counties. He then worked in private practice until 1992, when he was appointed associate justice of the Fall River District Court. He was later appointed associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court. He held this position until his appointment to the Massachusetts Appeals Court in 1998. From 2003 to 2005, Rapoza left the Court of Appeals to work for the United Nations, where he served as the chief international judge of the Special Panels for Serious Crimes in East Timor. In 2006, Rapoza was named chief justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.[1]
Awards and associations
- Awarded the rank of Commander in the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator by the President of Portugal in 2002, for "promoting closer relations between the judicial systems" of the U.S. and Portugal
- Recipient of the Brazilian Medal of International Merit in 2007, in recognition of his "contribution to strengthening the ties of friendship and cooperation between the judicial systems on the American continent"
- President, International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation
- Member, Board of International Consultants for the Permanent Latin America Committee for the Review and Implementation of the Minimum Rules of the UN for the Treatment of Prisoners
- Member, Executive Committee of the Council of Chief Judges of State Courts of Appeal
- Life fellow of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation[1]
See also
External links
- Massachusetts Courts, "Justices of the Massachusetts Appeals Court"
- Massachusetts Courts, "Massachusetts Appeals Court website"
Footnotes
Federal courts:
First Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Massachusetts • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Massachusetts
State courts:
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court • Massachusetts Appeals Court • Massachusetts Superior Courts • Massachusetts District Courts • Massachusetts Housing Courts • Massachusetts Juvenile Courts • Massachusetts Land Courts • Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts • Boston Municipal Courts, Massachusetts
State resources:
Courts in Massachusetts • Massachusetts judicial elections • Judicial selection in Massachusetts