The Massachusetts Attorney General is an executive officer of the Massachusetts Government. The current Attorney General is Tom Reilly. State House (Boston) The capital is Boston and the governor is Mitt Romney (Republican). ... Thomas Reilly is the attorney general of Massachusetts. ...

The Attorney General is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is charged with the vast responsibility of representing the Commonwealth in most matters in which the Commonwealth is a party. The Office of the Attorney General is comprised of five bureaus---Executive, Business and Labor Protection, Criminal, Government, and Public Protection---each of which is divided into one or more divisions and units.

Jurisdiction and Responsibilities

The Office of Attorney General acquired broad responsibilities early in its development. This process has continued to the present, the product both of legislative and judicial declarations. Today the Attorney General is clearly established as the commonwealth's chief law officer. He is also, in a less easily defined way, the people's lawyer, charged with protecting the "public interest."

Based on its statutory authority, the Attorney General's Office cannot provide citizens with legal opinions. The authority to render formal legal opinions extends only to requests by state officials, district attorneys, and branches and committees of the Legislature. (This limitation on the Attorney General's authority is spelled out in the Massachusetts General Laws at G.L. c. 12, §§ 3, 6, and 9. More specifically, under G.L. c. 12, § 3, the Attorney General is authorized to provide representation and other legal services to the commonwealth and . . . state departments, officers, and commissions[.])

The principal statutory declaration of the Attorney General's civil responsibilities is G. L. c. 12, § 3.

History of the Office

The roots of the Attorney General's Office lie deep in our constitutional heritage. In 1407 King Henry IV gave Thomas Derham a patent empowering him to act as the King's attorney in all the courts of England. Previously, attorneys with limited powers had been appointed for each major court or geographical area. This practice was gradually superseded, and the Attorney General assisted by a Solicitor-General, became the crown's chief legal office: He was the only person who could initiate legal proceedings on behalf of the crown. As advisors to the King, the Attorney and Solicitor-general gave legal advice to all departments of state, and appeared for them in court. By the end of the seventeenth century the office held by such eminent lawyers ad Coke and Bacon, had achieved the importance and breadth of authority we associate with it today.^[1] Henry IV can refer to Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV of England Henry IV of France Henry IV of Castile Henry IV, Duke of Breslau or plays by William Shakespeare: Henry IV, part 1 Henry IV, part 2 This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists...

The Office of the Attorney General did not exist in early colonial Massachusetts. The first person designated as "Attorney General" was Anthony Checkley appointed in 1680.^[2]. In fact his appointment appears to have been for the limited purpose of prosecuting an alleged witch. Checkley was a merchant with no formal legal training. Indeed, Edward Randolph accused him of being "not only ignorant of the laws of England, but...himself an illegal trader."^[3]. (His successors would no doubt plead innocent, at least to the second half of the accusation.)

The first Attorney General of Massachusetts to be vested with the broad common law powers of the English office was Benjamin Bullivant. He was appointed in 1686 by Joseph Dudley as part of a general reorganization of the judicial system.^[4]. After 1767 the Attorney General was assisted by a Solicitor-General. The Constitution of the Commonwealth adopted in 1780, recognized both offices. It provided for their appointment by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the council.^[5]. (The office of Solicitor General was later abolished by statute.^[6]) Joseph Dudley (September 23, 1647 - April 2, 1720), colonial governor of Massachusetts from 1702 to 1715, the son of Thomas Dudley, was born and died in Roxbury, Massachusetts. ...

The offices of District and County Attorney were created in 1807. St. 1807, c. 18. The statute placed them under the supervision of the Attorney General. However, in 1843 the office of Attorney General was abolished, and its functions transferred to the District and County Attorneys. ^[7]. The experiment was brief, and apparently unsuccessful from the standpoint of both economy and efficiency. In 1849 the office was re-established with all its former powers.^[8]. In 1855 the Seventeenth Amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution was adopted. It established the office of Attorney General as a true constitutional office, providing for popular election to the post.

List of Attorneys General

Elliot Lee Richardson Elliot Lee Richardson (July 20, 1920 – December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and politician who was a member of the cabinet of President Richard Nixon, but he managed to avoid being tainted by the Watergate Scandal. ... This article is about the modern United States Republican Party. ... Edward William Brooke III (born October 26, 1919) is an American politician and was the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the United States Senate when he was elected as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966, defeating his Democratic opponent, Endicott Peabody 58%-42%. Born in... This article is about the modern United States Republican Party. ... Scott Harshbarger is a lawyer and a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. ... The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States, the other one being the Republican Party. ... Thomas Reilly is the attorney general of Massachusetts. ... The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States, the other one being the Republican Party. ...

References

1. ^ 6 Holdsworth, History of English Law, 457-72 (1924).
2. ^ See 56 Proceedings Mass Hist. Soc. 171-73 (1923)
3. ^ 4 Palfrey, History of New England 523-24 n.i (1875)
4. ^ 10 Proceeding, Mass. Hist. Soc 289 (1896)
5. ^ Mass Const., Part 2, c. 2,§ 1, Art. 9
6. ^ St. 1832, c. 130, § 12.
7. ^ St. 1843, c. 99. The Joint Special Committee on Retrenchment, 9
8. ^ St. 1849, c. 186

External links

• Official site