Massachusetts’ high court: Do you know this justice?
BOSTON — A man’s portrait has hung for years outside the chambers of the chief justice on Massachusetts’ highest court. The problem? No one knows who he is.
It’s a mystery that has stumped officials at the Supreme Judicial Court for more than a decade. Now they’re turning to the public for help in cracking the case of the unknown justice.
“I basically said, listen, if we have not been able to identify it, why don’t we set loose the public to see if they can put on their Sherlock Holmes’ hats and help us to track down who this elusive and mysterious justice is?” Chief Justice Ralph Gants, who has served on the court since 2009, said in an interview.
Officials say they believe the man may have sat on the bench sometime between 1780 and 1820.