2020 -- S 2001

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LC003164

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING DEEPEST CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF THE HONORABLE

JUSTICE JOSEPH F. RODGERS, JR.

     Introduced By: Senators Ruggerio, McCaffrey, Goodwin, Lynch Prata, and Algiere

     Date Introduced: January 07, 2020

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, The Honorable Joseph F. Rodgers, Jr., retired Presiding Justice of the Rhode

Island Superior Court, passed away on December 6, 2019 after a long and distinguished career of

exemplary public service; and

     WHEREAS, Justice Rodgers was a product of the South Providence community to which

he was born. Taught by the Sisters of Mercy at St. Michael’s and Bishop Tyler schools, he was

exposed to a dedication towards education and hard work that would be his hallmark, while his

humble origins provided the empathy that helped guide the justice and wisdom he dispensed from

the bench; and

     WHEREAS, A graduate of La Salle Academy in 1958 and Providence College in 1962,

Justice Rodgers attended Boston University Law School full-time while living in Providence and

working as the Recreation Director at the Joslin Center and as a switch signal operator for the

New Haven Railroad. Admitted to the Rhode Island Bar in 1967, Justice Rodgers represented

many friends and families from the community as a partner in the firm of Brown, Rosen, Gentile

and Rodgers; and

     WHEREAS, Justice Rodgers had the misfortune to lose his father during his first year of

law school, but he was the beneficiary of friends and family who supported and guided him

through those difficult days and beyond. In 1967, Ed Clement encouraged the new attorney to run

in a special election to serve the remainder of his two-year senate term, where he learned

firsthand the truth about two political maxims: every vote counts and don’t take people for

granted, ask them for their vote personally. Winning a three-way democratic primary by

seventeen votes, Justice Rodgers always remembered the family of eight who supported him in

his election and witnessing one of his opponents thanking the same family for their support on

election day without ever asking for their votes previously; and

     WHEREAS, Though Justice Rodgers is often remembered for being appointed to the

bench at the age of thirty-two, it should not be forgotten that it was his Senate colleagues who had

first put their faith in such a young person, falling short as the group of “young turks” candidate

for Senate Majority Leader in 1971 only to be selected by his peers to be the Chairman of the

Senate Judiciary Committee in 1973; and

     WHEREAS, Civility is often absent from our present political process, yet Justice

Rodgers always made it a point to tell people to forget about labels and don’t think about people

as “Ds” or “Rs.” He believed that people entered politics with the hope of doing good—in their

own way—and always talked fondly of the lifetime friendships he formed with his Republican

seatmates. Politics may be the currency at the statehouse but friendships have value everywhere;

and

     WHEREAS, At the age of thirty-two, Justice Rodgers became the youngest-ever judge in

Rhode Island’s history when former Governor Philip Noel appointed him to the District Court in

1974. A short two and a half years later, in 1976, he was named to the Superior Court. In 1991, he

was appointed Presiding Justice of the Superior Court by then-Governor Bruce Sundlun, and

served in that capacity until his retirement in 2009, when at that time his thirty-three years on the

Superior Court was the longest such tenure in that court’s 104 year history; and

     WHEREAS, In his eighteen years as Presiding Justice of the Superior Court, Justice

Rodgers implemented many changes that made the court more customer friendly for the public,

litigants and jurors: reforming and restructuring the jury duty system in Rhode Island by reducing

the length of service from two weeks to two days or one trial, thereby making jury duty more

convenient and enabling more citizens to participate, reducing the backlog of civil cases awaiting

trial, and initiating a judge evaluation program, which has produced more than 60,000 evaluations

since its inception in 1992; and

     WHEREAS, Justice Rodgers organized the nation’s first Gun Court and reduced the time

it takes for gun cases to proceed through the system, a design so successful that it has been

emulated by numerous courts across the country. In addition, Justice Rodgers established a Drug

Court for first-time adult offenders which provides for substance-abuse treatment as an alternative

to incarceration; and

     WHEREAS, Justice Rodgers amassed numerous professional distinctions and privileges

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during the course of his illustrious career. He was appointed by Governor J. Joseph Garrahy to

chair a commission to study Rhode Island’s election laws, and was appointed by the Rhode Island

Supreme Court to chair the Commission on Judicial Tenure and Discipline from 1980 to 1986.

Justice Rodgers served on the National Democratic Committee to Reform Selection of Vice

Presidential Candidates and as a delegate to the National Conference of the Judiciary on the

Rights of Victims of Crime. He was a member of the Rhode Island Justice Commission, and was

also a member of the Board of Directors of Butler Hospital and Ocean Tides in Narragansett; and

     WHEREAS, He was the beneficiary of many mentors in his lifetime, Justice Rodgers was

equally influential on all those who sought his guidance, especially in the Law enforcement

community, as he taught many courses on law at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada,

Providence College, Roger Williams University and the Community College of Rhode Island;

and

     WHEREAS, Justice Rodgers was honored for his accomplishments by the very alma

maters that helped prepare him for his venerated career in law. He was inducted into the LaSalle

Academy Hall of Fame, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Providence College.

His distinguished impact on the State of Rhode Island and the City of Providence was recognized

when he was elected into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame and the Providence Recreation

Hall of Fame; and

     WHEREAS, Throughout his long career, Justice Rodgers participated in many decisions

and cases that would affect the state and its people. It was his good fortune that such long tenure

provided him the opportunity to serve his last weeks as Presiding Justice with his daughter Kristin

as an Associate Justice of the Superior Court; and

     WHEREAS, A person's legacy is marked by the way they are remembered by friends and

foes alike. Justice Rodgers, for all his years in public life dealing with issues from the mundane to

the most heinous, enjoyed the respect of all with whom he had dealings. Not everyone leaves the

court victorious, but no one ever left Justice Rodgers' courtroom feeling that they were not treated

fairly; and

     WHEREAS, For all of that has been said and written in his praise let Justice Rodgers be

remembered by the sentiment expressed by his successor Presiding Justice Alice B. Gibney who,

when talking about the wisdom and generosity exhibited by Justice Rodgers inside and outside

the courtroom, stated that "There was no better Judge ... There was no better friend"; and

     WHEREAS, Justice Rodgers leaves behind Donna Rodgers, his beloved wife of fifty-

three years. He also leaves behind his sons Joseph F. Rodgers III, Esq.; Edward (Ted) Rodgers;

his daughter Superior Court Associate Justice Kristin E. Rodgers and her husband Scott Raynes;

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and his cherished granddaughters Leigh Ann Rodgers and Sydney Raynes; and a sister Jean

Patterson. He was the brother of the late Marjorie McDonald; now therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby expresses its deepest condolences on the passing of the Honorable Joseph F. Rodgers, Jr.,

and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Mrs. Donna B. Rodgers, Joseph F. Rodgers III,

Esq., the Honorable Kristin E. Rodgers, Edward P. Rodgers, and Jean R. Patterson.

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