George E. Thompson

George E. Thompson
District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts
In office
1945–1956
Preceded byRobert F. Bradford
Succeeded byEphraim Martin
Personal details
Born(1904-03-04)March 4, 1904[1]
Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedSeptember 8, 1973(1973-09-08) (aged 69)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Resting placeWyoming Cemetery
Melrose, Massachusetts, U.S.[2]
Political partyRepublican
Alma materBoston University School of Law
OccupationAttorney

George Edwin Thompson (March 4, 1904 – September 3, 1973) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court and District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

Early life

Thompson was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts and graduated from Lawrence High School in 1921. He graduated from the Boston University School of Law in 1924 and earned a master's degree from the school in 1925. He became a partner in the firm of Ely, Bradford, Thompson and Brown.[2]

District attorney

In 1940, Thompson became an assistant district attorney of Middlesex County.[2] In 1944, Thompson managed DA Robert F. Bradford's successful campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and was appointed to succeed Bradford as district attorney.[3][2] He was elected to full four-year terms in 1946, 1950, and 1954.[4] In 1951, he indicted Massachusetts Institute of Technology Dirk Jan Struik professor on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the governments of the United States and Massachusetts.[5] The indictment was quashed in 1956 by judge Paul G. Kirk after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in a different case that the federal Smith Act superseded Massachusetts' sedition laws.[6]

Massachusetts Superior Court

In 1956, Thompson was appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court by Governor Christian Herter.[4] He remained on the bench until his death on September 3, 1973. He was 69 years old.[2]

References

  1. ^ "List of Superior Court Justices Since 1859". Massachusetts Law Quarterly. 44: 126. 1959.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Judge George Thompson of Mass. Superior Court". The Boston Globe. September 4, 1973.
  3. ^ Ainley, Leslie (November 12, 1944). "Shakeup in State Republican Leadership Likely to Follow Defeat". The Boston Globe.
  4. ^ a b "Thompson Named Superior Court Judge by Herter". The Boston Globe. January 10, 1956.
  5. ^ "Guilt in Plot Denied by M.I.T. Professor". The New York Times. September 15, 1951.
  6. ^ "Struik Suspension Lifted by M. I. T.; Status Unsettled". The Boston Globe. May 27, 1956.