2020 -- H 8169

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LC005604

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

THANKING JUSTICE OF THE RHODE ISLAND SUPREME COURT, FRANCIS X.

FLAHERTY, FOR HIS SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Filippi, Kennedy, and
McNamara

     Date Introduced: December 14, 2020

     Referred To: Placed on the House Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, The Honorable Francis X. Flaherty, a Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme

Court, and highly respected adjudicator, is retiring on December 31, 2020, after seventeen years

on the bench and more than three decades of public service; and

     WHEREAS, Laying the foundation for his eminent career, Justice Flaherty attended

Bishop Hendricken High School, earned his Bachelor's degree from Providence College, and

attained his Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School. Between college and law school,

he served our country with honor and distinction in the United States Army, including

deployment to Vietnam where he experienced about 80 firefights and earned three Bronze Stars

for Valor as a platoon leader; and

     WHEREAS, Justice Flaherty has led a life replete with a panoply of life experiences and

prodigious accomplishments, starting as a paperboy, and ultimately culminating in his

appointment to the Supreme Court by then-Governor Donald Carcieri in 2003. In the interim, he

was an Assistant City Solicitor in Warwick, was elected to the Warwick City Council from 1979

to 1985, successfully ran for Mayor of Warwick, serving from 1985 through 1990, served as

President of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns in 1988 and 1989, and in 1998, was

named to the Board of Governors for Higher Education until 2003, when he was appointed to the

Rhode Island Supreme Court; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Supreme Court is the final interpreter of state law, often

referred to as "the court of last resort." Throughout his tenure on the bench, Justice Flaherty's

brilliant mind and innate ability to adjudicate his caseload in a just and timely manner has enabled

him to consider innumerable significant cases affecting the health, welfare, and the public's right

to know in a conscientious and consistent manner; and

     WHEREAS, Professionally, Justice Flaherty also has been a member of the Rhode Island

Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and has served as President of the Catholic legal

group, the St. Thomas More Society of Rhode Island; and

     WHEREAS, Justice Flaherty's lifelong service to the people of Rhode Island has

garnered a reputation for diligence, fairness, and erudition that has earned him the respect and

admiration of his peers and the gratitude of the people of our state, and he has wholly

distinguished himself as a person worthy of our recognition and admiration; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island thanks

Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Francis X. Flaherty, for his service to the people of

the State of Rhode Island. We moreover extend our best wishes for his continued success, health,

and fulfillment; and be it further

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

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Honorable Francis X. Flaherty.

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LC005604

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