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Tomorrow's Democratic party primary in Suffolk County, Mass., includes the job of clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court (which is what Massachusetts calls its highest court, and a lot of people have been wondering why is this an elected position at all, and also, why does only one county vote for it?
The answer turns out to be the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
More specifically, it's because the state court in 1851 decided that law applied to a man who had escaped slavery and was living in Massachusett. After Boston-area Abolitionists broke the man out of jail and helped him escape to Canada, they decided something should be done about the court. It's not clear from this article how "we should get to elect judges" turned into an elected court clerk. The article explains why it's only one county, but that bit of the story doesn't seem as interesting.
ETA: This also explains why I hadn't heard of the job before, despite having moved to Massachusetts in 2016L I was living in Middlesex County, which doesn't elect state court clerks,
The answer turns out to be the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
More specifically, it's because the state court in 1851 decided that law applied to a man who had escaped slavery and was living in Massachusett. After Boston-area Abolitionists broke the man out of jail and helped him escape to Canada, they decided something should be done about the court. It's not clear from this article how "we should get to elect judges" turned into an elected court clerk. The article explains why it's only one county, but that bit of the story doesn't seem as interesting.
ETA: This also explains why I hadn't heard of the job before, despite having moved to Massachusetts in 2016L I was living in Middlesex County, which doesn't elect state court clerks,
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it turns out that my SiL Paula (who you'd assume was white) had a 2x great grandmother who was freed slave of African origin. She even has a wonderful photo of the lady.