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mother-country. The governor of Massachusetts[1] appoints a certain number of justices of the peace in every county, whose functions last seven years.[2] He farther designates three individuals from among the whole body of justices, who form in each county what is called the court of sessions. The justices take a personal share in public business; they are sometimes intrusted with administrative functions in conjunction with elected officers;[3] they sometimes constitute a tribunal, before which the magistrates summarily prosecute a refractory citizen, or the citizens inform against the abuses of the magistrate. But it is in the court of sessions that they exercise their most important functions. This court meets twice a year in the county town; in Massachusetts it is empowered to enforce the obedience of the greater number[4] of public officers.[5] It must be observed that in the state of Massachusetts the court of sessions is at the same time an administrative body, properly so called, and a political tribunal. It has been asserted that the county is a purely administrative division. The court of sessions presides over that small number of affairs which, as they concern several townships, or all the townships of the county in common, cannot be intrusted to any one of them in particular.[6] In all that concerns county business, the duties of the court of sessions are therefore purely administrative; and if in its investigations it occa-
- ↑ We shall hereafter learn what a governor is: I shall content myself with remarking in this place, that he represents the executive power of the whole state.
- ↑ See the constitution of Massachusetts, chap, ii., § 1; chap. iii., § 3.
- ↑
Thus, for example, a stranger arrives in a township from a country where a
contagious disease prevails, and he falls ill. Two justices of the peace can, with the
assent of the selectmen, order the sheriff of the county to remove and take care of
him. Act of 22d June, 1797; vol. i., p. 540.
In general the justices interfere in all the important acts of the administration, and give them a semi-judicial character.
- ↑ I say the greater number because certain administrative misdemeanors are brought before the ordinary tribunals. If, for instance, a township refuses to make the necessary expenditure for its schools, or to name a school-committee, it is liable to a heavy fine. But this penalty is pronounced by the supreme judicial court or the court of common pleas. See the act of 10th March, 1827; laws of Massachusetts, vol. iii., p. 190. Or when a township neglects to provide the necessary war-stores. Act of 21st February, 1822; Id., vol. ii., p. 570.
- ↑ In their individual capacity, the justices of the peace take a part in the business of the counties and townships. The more important acts of the municipal government are rarely decided upon without the co-operation of one of their body.
- ↑ These affairs may be brought under the following heads: 1. The erection of prisons and courts of justice. 2. The county budget, which is afterward voted by the state. 3. The assessment of the taxes so voted. 4. Grants of certain patents. 5. The laying down and repairs of the county roads.
