Frank J. Williams | |
|---|---|
 Williams (second from the right in the line facing the camera) shown with other judges on the Court of Military Commission Review | |
| 39th Chief Justice of theRhode Island Supreme Court | |
| In office 2001–2008 | |
| Appointed by | Lincoln Almond |
| Preceded by | Joseph R. Weisberger |
| Succeeded by | Paul Suttell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1940-08-24)August 24, 1940 (age 85) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Boston University Boston University School of Law Bryant University |
| Civilian awards | Laureate ofThe Lincoln Academy of Illinois The Order of Lincoln |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Rank |  Captain |
| Military awards | Combat Infantryman Badge Bronze Star Medal ThreeAir Medals Army Commendation Medal National Defense Service Medal Vietnam Service Medal Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal |
Frank J. Williams (born August 24, 1940) is a former Chief Justice of theSupreme Court of Rhode Island, a notableAbraham Lincoln scholar and author, and a justice of the Military Commission Review Panel.[1][2]
Frank Williams was born inRichmond, Rhode Island, in 1940, "the grandson of Italian immigrant parents."[3] He graduated fromCranston East High School,Boston University andBoston University School of Law, and he received a master's degree in taxation fromBryant University.[citation needed]
From 1962 to 1967, he served as acaptain in theU.S. Army and was stationed inWest Germany andSouth Vietnam. His military awards include theCombat Infantryman Badge andBronze Star Medal, threeAir Medals and theArmy Commendation Medal, theNational Defense Service Medal,Vietnam Service Medal with two campaign stars theRepublic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with silver citation star andRepublic of Vietnam Campaign Medal for his military service.[1][4]
Williams served as a delegate to the1986 Rhode Island Constitutional Convention.[5]
He served as town moderator ofRichmond, Rhode Island, and town solicitor. GovernorLincoln Almond appointed Williams to the Supreme Court in 1995. He was elevated to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 2001.[citation needed]
Williams ruled in a 1997 case involving public access to the Narragansett Town Beach.[5] It had long been accepted that theRhode Island Constitution guarantees free access to all state shorelines by means of walking along the shoreline below the high tide line (a right called "lateral access").[5] Activists at the Narragansett Town beach argued that this right also includes unobstructed access from the land (called "perpendicular access").[5]
Williams sided with the Town of Narragansett, ruling in court that Rhode Island Constitution "provides absolutely no indication that a right of perpendicular access across the property of others exists," and therefore the town was within its rights to charge an access fee. As of 2021, Narragansett Town Beach remains the only public beach in the state that charges for beach access.[5]
In 2003, President Bush appointed Williams through the Secretary of Defense to be a member of theUnited States Court of Military Commission Review.[1] As of July 2007, he replacedGriffin Bell as the Chief Judge.[2] He served as Chief Judge of theUS Court of Military Commissions until December 2009.
Williams has been involved with numerous aspects of Abraham Lincoln scholarship and collection for much of his life, beginning in his own boyhood. He recalled "I used to spend my 25 cents for lunch money on used Lincoln books",[6] includingLincoln the Unknown byAndrew Carnegie and the multi-volumeAbraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years andThe War Years byCarl Sandburg.[7] This eventually grew into a collection of thousands of books, documents, pieces of artwork, and other items that he kept in his home library.[6][8]
Williams was president of theAbraham Lincoln Association, the Lincoln Group of Boston, and the Ulysses S. Grant Association, and was a member of theAbraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.[9] After disputes within the Abraham Lincoln Association prompted Williams,Harold Holzer, and others to leave the group in the mid-1990s,[10] Williams served for 23 years as the founding chair of The Lincoln Forum, and is now that organization's chairman emeritus.[11] In 2005, Williams received The Lincoln Forum'sRichard Nelson Current Award of Achievement.[12]
In 2010, Williams was elected to the board of theAbraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation. He is an Associate Companion of theMilitary Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, an organization founded by Union officers who served during the American Civil War. Williams was inducted as a Laureate ofThe Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2009 as a Bicentennial Laureate.[13]
In 2017, he and his wife Virginia donated their collection of Lincoln- and Civil War-related books and other materials toMississippi State University. The collection, now known as The Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana, is subdivided into two collections: The Lincoln Book and Pamphlet Collection, and the Civil War/Collateral Book and Pamphlet Collection. Earlier, while president of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, Williams had been involved in efforts to move Grant's papers to Mississippi State fromSouthern Illinois University.[14][15][16]
While on the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Williams estimated that he had used in his rulings 100 quotes attributed to Lincoln.[6]
Williams is the author ofJudging Lincoln[8] andLincoln as Hero.[17] He is the co-editor of the following essay collections:Abraham Lincoln, Esq.: The Legal Career of America's Greatest President;The Mary Lincoln Enigma: Historians on America's Most Controversial First Lady;[18]Exploring Lincoln: Great Historians Reappraise Our Greatest President;The Living Lincoln;The Lincoln Assassination Riddle: Revisiting the Crime of the Nineteenth Century; andThe Lincoln Assassination: Crime and Punishment, Myth and Memory.[19]
Frank J. Williams stepped down from the Rhode Island Supreme Court at the end of December 2009 and has lectured at several universities and institutes, most notably at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics atSaint Anselm College. Williams is also an accomplished amateur chef, and appeared as a guest on the cooking show,Ciao Italia, withMary Ann Esposito.[20]
Chief Justice Frank Williams, chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Williams was as an associate justice of the Superior Court of Rhode Island from 1995 to 2001. He served as an Army captain in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantry Badge, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Silver Star for Valor. He earned his law degree from Boston University in 1970 and a master's degree in taxation from Bryant College in 1986.
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