Gordon R. Hall, who led the Utah Supreme Court as chief justice for 12 years and is credited with advancing judicial independence through constitutional reform, has died.
Former Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon R. Hall, known for his contributions for strengthening the independence of Utah’s court system, has died at 98.
Gordon R. Hall, who led the Utah Supreme Court as chief justice for 12 years and is credited with advancing judicial independence through constitutional reform, has died.
Hall, who was chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court from 1981 to 1993, died June 1, according to a news release from the Utah Judiciary. He was 98.
Matthew Durrant, the current chief justice, said in a statement that Hall was a “visionary leader whose commitment to fairness, judicial integrity, and the rule of law shaped our courts for generations. … His legacy endures in the independence of Utah’s judiciary and the many lives he influenced.”
(Frank Porschatis |The Salt Lake Tribune, file photo) Gordon R. Hall is shown at his first swearing-in as chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court in July 1981. He would serve multiple terms as chief justice, from 1981 to 1993.
In 2007, Hall told The Salt Lake Tribune that he hadn’t always seen himself on a path toward the judiciary.
“When I was a young boy, I never thought I’d even be a lawyer,” he said. “When I went to college, they said, ‘What do you want to be?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. A lawyer sounds good.’”
Hall was honored in 2007 when the Tooele County Courthouse was named for him. It’s the only courthouse in the state named after a judge.
Christine Durham, a former chief justice, told The Tribune then that Hall in 1984 spearheaded a movement to change the Utah Constitution to make the state’s court system fully independent.
Hall was born on Dec. 14, 1926, in Vernal, Utah, the son of Roscoe Hall and Clara Freestone, according to his obituary.
(The Salt Lake Tribune, file photo) This photo of Gordon R. Hall was published in The Salt Lake Tribune in November 1958, as he was running for Tooele County Attorney. He had been temporarily appointed to the serve the remainder of the term of A. Pharis Johnson, who had died while in office. Hall also was a legal advisor to what was then called the Tooele Ordinance Depot. He won the election and was re-elected twice, serving three terms.
Hall moved to Tooele in 1941, and his career in the law took off after he was elected to three terms as Tooele County Attorney, the obituary said.
In 1969, he was appointed to Utah’s 3rd District Court. He was appointed to the Utah Supreme Court in 1977, and was promoted to chief justice in 1981 — a post he held until his retirement in 1993.
(The Salt Lake Tribune, file photo) Gordon R. Hall is seen at his swearing-in as a Utah Supreme Court justice on Jan. 4, 1977. He was appointed by Gov. Scott M. Matheson on the new governor’s first day in office.
During his time on the bench, Hall led Utah’s Judicial Council, served as president of the Conference of Chief Justices, and chaired the board of the National Center for State Courts, according to the news release. In 1988, he received the Distinguished Jurist Award for his contributions to the judiciary.
After retiring from the bench, Hall was put in charge of an ethics board for the committee that organized the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The board issued a scathing report in the wake of a bribery scandal that was exposed after Salt Lake City won the bid, according to a history of the scandal published in 2000.
Hall and his wife, Doris Gillespie, were married in 1947. He credited his success to her.
“Without Doris, none of this would have happened,” he said at the courthouse dedication. “I wouldn’t have gone to law school. I would have been just a kid from Tooele.”
Hall is survived by his children, Rick and Craig Hall, grandson Brian Hall, as well as several nieces and nephews, according to his obituary.
A graveside service was held on June 5 at the Tooele City Cemetery.
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