LAST OF HIS KIND

Supreme Court’s Last Official Crier Dies at 102

He remained on staff at a law firm until he was 100.

The Supreme Court’s last-ever crier has died at the age of 102. George Hutchinson started working in the country’s top court as a page when he was 15 years old, and would go on to deliver ceremonial remarks opening some of the biggest cases in American history. He announced the arrival of the justices and gaveled the court to order for most cases from 1952 to 1962, including Brown v. Board of Education. The job has since been assumed by the court-martial. He would also be used to pass messages between justices on the bench, hand them water, and fetch the World Series score from the office and return it to baseball-loving justices in session. After being drafted to serve in Europe at the end of WW2, he returned to the court, where he first worked in the marshal’s office and then took the job of the crier. He left the Supreme Court in 1962 and federal government service in 1985. From here, he joined law firm Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, remaining on the company’s staff until he was 100.