Moses Harrison heeded needs of profession
As the new chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court eight years ago, Moses W. Harrison II ushered in an era of cooperation with the organized bar on matters that affect the legal profession and practice.
A former member of the ISBA Board of Governors who had practiced for 15 years in East St. Louis and Collinsville, Harrison was aware of the concerns of lawyers for access to justice for clients and effective administration of the judicial system.
A 1958 graduate of the Washington University School of Law, Harrison will be honored next month as an ISBA Senior Counsellor.
A past president of the Madison County Bar Association who served on the Collinsville City Council, he was appointed to the 3rd Circuit Court in September 1973 and elected in 1974.
Chief judge for three years, he served in Madison County felony and major civil courtrooms until 1979.
Harrison was appointed to the Appellate Court that year and elected in 1980. He was presiding judge in the 5th District for two terms. He was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court in 1992.
The ISBA has honored him twice before: once after he became chief justice, and again in February 2001 with an Access to Justice Award.
A belief that Harrison has expressed during his half-century at the bar and on the bench is that every practicing attorney should commit to regular pro bono representation of indigent clients.
“If we are ever to realize the promise of equal justice under the law, access to the judicial system cannot depend on the vagaries of personal benevolence,” he said in accepting the ISBA award. “It must be certain and automatic, available to whoever needs it, whenever they need it, as a matter of course.”
He added, “Each of us has something to contribute. Each of us can help bring the goal closer. It is our moral and professional duty. As lawyers, we have no higher calling.”
Harrison retired from the Supreme Court in September 2002 to spend more time with his wife, Sharon, in their “little house on the prairie” in Caseyville.
He was succeeded as chief justice by Mary Ann G. McMorrow, who continued his pattern of openness to constructive suggestions from the bar. “We are listening,” she said during the ISBA Future of the Courts Conference.