David Allan Rose (1906 – April 29, 1995) was an American lawyer and judge who served as a Massachusetts state court judge for more than 40 years and active in many community and civil rights organizations. He was a judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court (1960–1972), and then an associate justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court (1972–1976); after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70, he continued to serve as a recalled retired justice (1978–1985). He was the longtime chairman of the national executive committee of Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.
Rose was born in 1906 in Boston.[1] His father was Morris Rose.[2][3] He graduated from Boston University,[1][4] with a business degree,[1] and then graduated from Boston University Law School.[4][1]
In 1935, Rose was elected to the state legislature.[1] Rose was named to the Municipal Court in Dorchester, Boston in 1936,[5][4] as a part-time "special justice" (a role that allowed him to continue practicing law).[1] He practiced with Jackson J. Holtz.[1]
He was appointed to the Superior Court in 1960.[4] In 1961, while on the Superior Court bench, Rose issued a ruling that led to the preservation of Walden Pond.[4] Upon the creation of the Massachusetts Appeals Court in 1972, Governor Frank Sargent appointed Rose to the court, one of the first six justices.[1] Having already served for 36 years on the Municipal Court and Superior Court, Rose became the Appeals Court's first senior associate justice.[1] In March 1976, Rose reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 years,[1] but continued to serve part-time on the bench for years[4] after the state enacted the Court Reform Act of 1978, which allowed retired Appeals Court judges to be recalled.[1] Rose was the first person to be a recalled retired justice in the state, and served in that role from 1978 to 1985.[1] Rose was of counsel to Barron and Stadfeld, a law firm in Boston, from 1976 to 1978.[1]
Rose was active in many community and civil rights organizations and held numerous positions with the New England Region of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (ADL).[1][6] Rose was also a longtime chairman of the group's national executive committee.[4] Rose was also involved in the creation of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Boston,[1] its president in the 1940s,[7] and involved in the creation of the Jewish Big Brother Association.[1]
In 1946, Rose recommended to Boston Attorney General to investigate anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish activities of the Anglo-Saxon Federation of America.[8] On behalf of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, Rose testified before Congress in 1954 in support of a revision to the flawed "loyalty" proceedings that had been brought in preceding years, many of which lacked a basis.[4] Rose also testified before House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Civil Rights in July 1955 in support of federal civil rights laws.[9] In the 1940s, Rose served as president of the Law Society of Massachusetts.[1][10][11] Rose also served as national chair of the Boston University Alumni Association.[1]
Rose died on April 29, 1995, at Imperial Point Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at age 89.[4]
Rose lived in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[4]
In February 1939, Rose married Ruth June Goodman, daughter of Michael L. Goodman, then publisher of The Scranton Times-Tribune (known then as the Tribune-Scrantonian).[3][2][12] They were the parents of three children.[4][1]
The marriage of Miss Ruth June - Goodman, daughter of Mr. and Mis. Michael L. Goodman, Clay avenue, to Judge David Allan Rose, son of Mr. and Mrs. Morris Rose, Boston, Mass., was solemnized last evening at 5 o'clock.
Judge David Allan Rose, for his second successive term, is President of The Law Society of Massachusetts.