Peter W. Agnes, Jr.

Judge Peter W. Agnes, Jr. currently sits on the Massachusetts Appeals Court as an Associate Justice, having been appointed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2011. In addition to being an active member of the legal community in providing “…service on numerous Supreme Judicial Court and Bar Association committees, commissions[,]…task forces, [et al.]…,” Justice Agnes has also been passionate about education, having taught at the Massachusetts School of Law for the past fifteen years, and continuing to do so currently.^[1] Agnes presently resides in Wayland, MA with his wife Eileen Agnes (a family law attorney). They have four children and three grandchildren, boasting a passionate relationship with their extensive family outside of their legal careers.^[2]

Early life and education

Born and raised in Somerville, MA, research does not indicate that Justice Agnes’ childhood was any more extraordinary than those of any of his peers. He spent his undergraduate career at Boston University, from which he graduated in 1972 cum laude, and subsequently attended Suffolk University Law School, graduating (again, cum laude) in 1975 with his juris doctorate. Immediately upon entering the legal world, Justice Agnes was hired as a law clerk under New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Edward Lampron. From 1976 through 1982, he served an Assistant District Attorney in two districts: Middlesex County (MA), — becoming Chief of the Appellate Division there — and Norfolk County (MA). The remainer of his pre-judicial career consisted of serving as “…both the Assistant Secretary for Public Safety and Acting Director of the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council,” for the next three years, and then, “…Chief of Operations for Governor Michael Dukakis until 1991.”^[3]

Though there do not seem to be any formal publications pertaining to the time Justice Agnes spent as a student at Suffolk Law School, and ergo any notable information on any extracurricular affiliations he may have had during his time there, he is noted to have presided over the final competition of the 2010 Massachusetts Bar Association’s Mock Trial Program, held at Faneuil Hall in Boston, among two of his legal peers.^[4] How he was chosen to preside over this competition is not explicit, but it is more likely that his ongoing public affiliation with various legal committees, associations, and task groups^[5] has had more of an influence than anything with which he may have been engaged during his time at Suffolk Law.

Judicial career

Though not as extensive as some, Justice Agnes’ judicial career has been both meaningful and exemplary. Appointed to the Charlestown District Court in 1991 by Governor Michael Dukakis, — likely as the result of the time he spent working under Dukakis as his Chief of Operations — Agnes remained there for nine years.^[6] As district courts are very esoteric (even within the boundaries of their own geographical boundaries), and either usually settle activity in a rather dull way or become subject to appellate activity, there have been no notable, publicized rulings of Agnes’ during his time at the district court. This nine-year period allowed Justice Agnes to acclimate to the life and practice of a judge, and it is where he built his respectable, yet very local reputation among his peers — a reputation which soon led to a promotion.

The majority of Agnes’ legal career has been spent on the Worcester Superior Court in Massachusetts, to which he was appointed in 2000 by then-Governor Paul Cellucci.^[7] It was on this seat that Justice Agnes molded his reputation, as Worcester Superior Court Judge John McCann notes, “…as a judge who does not shy away from ‘the tough calls’ and is fair and thoughtful in all his rulings”.^[8] One such case involves a 59-year-old man twice convicted of child rape. Loran D. Scott, admitting, during a jury-waived trial in front of Judge Agnes, that he was “likely to re-offend if released from custody” due to “a long-standing substance abuse problem,” and recurring “sexual ‘thoughts and fantasies.’” Admitting, among other things, psychological evaluations — which ultimately diagnosed Scott with schizophrenia and a personality disorder — Justice Agnes found that Scott is a “sexually dangerous person as defined by the law” and committed him to the Massachusetts Treatment Center for Sex Offenders.^[9] Straight interpretation and appropriate rulings in cases such as these were what elevated Agnes’ ability as a jurist in the eyes of his peers and in the eyes of those among the public who paid attention.

It was also during his time on the Worcester Superior Court that Justice Agnes faced the sharpest criticisms — which would later return in the midst of his Governor’s Council hearing to determine whether or not he would be effectively appointed to the Massachusetts Appeals Court. Lisa Siegel, who had previously encountered Judge Agnes in the midst of legal entwinements within her personal life, alleged that the way in which Justice Agnes handled a conflict of interest lawsuit stemming from the divorce of her parents was corruptedly conducted in the interests of a Worcester lawyer operating throughout the case.^[10]

It is worth noting that during his time on the Worcester Superior Court, Judge Agnes ultimately became a specialized Regional Administrative Justice, remaining as such for the remainder of his time there, and, further, that throughout that eleven-year period, Agnes was considered to be appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court — a position which he has yet to attain — on three separate occasions.^[11]

In 2011 Agnes left the Worcester Superior Court, having been appointed to the state Appeals Court by Governor Deval Patrick. In what seemed to have been “the most intensive questioning of a judicial nominee in the past 10 years,” according to Governor’s Council member Marilyn Devaney,^[12] Judge Agnes was confirmed to the state Appeals Court, on which he currently serves. Admitting that becoming an appellate judge was “‘something that I’ve had an interest in for a long time,’” Agnes described himself as having “‘mixed feelings’” and that he had built a passionate connection with Worcester over the past eleven years, which, despite the promotion, he hoped to preserve.^[13]

Awards and honors

Justice Agnes was the recipient of the Order of St. Michael the Archangel Award for the year 2011 from the Massachusetts Association of Italian-American Police Officers, being recognized “with distinction as the President of the Massachusetts Judges Association, the President of the Justinian Law Society of Massachusetts, the Chairman of the Board of the Dante Alighieri Society, and [as being] one of the founders of October as Italian-American Heritage Month." ^[14] Agnes’ late father, Peter W. Agnes, Sr., was a retired police officer — Lieutenant Colonel — of the Massachusetts State Police, and to whom Judge Agnes ascribes the basis for the development of his own values and his active service to the public.^[15]

Publications

Any publications that Justice Agnes may or may not have written — beyond his rulings and opinions recorded in judicial records — are either beyond the scope of the modern search engine or are too arcane — perhaps as the result of his comparatively lesser-known (nationally) status as a judge — to truly exist in the public realm. No such publications, whether or not they do exist, have been identified through research.

References