Richard Benson

Justice Richard Benson
Benson in 1972.
Born	February 10, 1926
Died	November 17, 2021
NSA member	N.W. Pacific 1972 - 1973
Counsellor	N.E. Asia 1973 - 1980 Australasia 1980 - 1990

The Hon. Richard Hugh Benson (February 10, 1926 - November 17, 2021) was an American Bahá'í who pioneered to the Pacific to serve the Faith and served as a Continental Counsellor. In his career he was a prominent judge, who served as a judge in Guam, eventually receiving the Hustisia Award from the Guam judiciary, and served as the inaugural Associate Justice of the Federated States of Micronesia Supreme Court and helped develop Micronesia's court system.

Biography

Benson studied at the U.S. Naval Academy, and served in the U.S. Navy for ten years from 1946. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1956. Richard's wife, Joy Faily, graduated from the University of Michigan medical school around the same time. She was a Bahá'í, her father was an Iranian expatriate who had converted to the Faith from Islam after moving to America. Richard, a Christian, began investigating the Faith around the time of his graduation.

The Bensons moved to Greenville, South Carolina, in 1956 where Richard aimed to begin working in private practice. In early 1957 Richard became a Bahá'í, and he was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Greenville when it was established in April 1957. His religion made it difficult for him to secure employment. He was interviewed for a position with the Haynsworth law firm and given an appointment at which to sign a contract, but after the firm found that he was staying with Grace von der Heydt, known for being a Bahá'í and a promoter of racial equality, he found that no-one at the firm would speak to him when he arrived for his appointment, and later found himself blacklisted by all law firms in Greenville, forcing him to work in real estate. Joy's parents helped the Bensons purchase a home where they began hosting interracial Bahá'í meetings, and they began receiving threatening phone calls and abuse from neighbors, one of whom, who was an attorney, petitioned the South Carolina General Assembly accusing the Bensons of being Communists and "race-mixers".

In 1961 the Attorney General of South Carolina granted the chairman and secretary of Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies in the State the authority to perform marriages under South Carolina law due to Richards efforts. As of 1961 he was chairman of the South Atlantic States Area Teaching Committee. As of 1963 he was secretary of the Greenville Local Spiritual Assembly. In 1965 Richard spoke at a Human Rights Day observance in Greenville.

In 1967 Richard and his family pioneered to Guam to teach the Faith, and he found employment in private practice there. In 1970 he became a judge of the Island Court of Guam. In July 1971 Benson visited Micronesia to take part in a deepening conference with members of the newly formed Local Spiritual Assembly of Dublon Island. In April 1972 Richard was elected as the inaugural treasurer, and his wife as inaugural chairman, of the National Spiritual Assembly of the North West Pacific Ocean at the first North West Pacific Convention held on Ponape in the Caroline Islands. He only served on the Assembly for one year, as he was appointed to the Continental Board of North-Eastern Asia by the Universal House of Justice in May 1973.

In 1974 Richard became a judge of the Superior Court of Guam, a newly formed Court which consolidated Guam's Commissioners', Police, and Island Courts. In August 1974 he chaired a discussion on the role of youth in the modern world at the International Bahá'í Youth Conference in Hilo, Hawaii. In September 1974 he visited South Korea, speaking on the Faith in Sangha-ri to approximately eighty and in Dun-ri to approximately one hundred and thirty people. He visited Korea several times to meet with the National Spiritual Assembly and Bahá'í community members as Counsellor. He was keynote speaker at a teaching conference held in Guam before a teaching campaign on Truk Island in 1977. In April 1977 he attended the National Convention of the Marshall Islands. In May 1978 he attended the first National Convention of the Mariana Islands at which the National Spiritual Assembly of the Mariana Islands was established.

On October 31, 1980, Tosiwo Nakayama, first President of the Federated States of Micronesia, appointed Richard as the first Associate Justice of the Federated States of Micronesia Supreme Court. He was confirmed by the Countries Congress on November 8, 1980 and resigned from the Superior Court of Guam the following year in order to serve on the Supreme Court of Micronesia. He expressed his intention to only remain on the body until a qualified Micronesian could succeed him, and pledged to help train and develop locals for judicial leadership.

In 1980 the Continental Boards of Counsellors were reconstituted, with five year terms for Counsellors being introduced, and the borders of the Boards being revised. Under the new borders Guam fell under the jurisdiction of the Continental Board for Australasia, and in November 1980 Richard was appointed to the Continental Board of Australasia by the Universal House of Justice. In September 1982 he attended an International Bahá'í Conference held in Canberra, Australia, delivering a talk on World Order. In September 1983 he spoke at a National Teaching Conference for the Mariana Islands with fellow Counsellor Ben Ayala. In February, 1984, he and the other Australasian Counsellors met with International Counsellor Magdalene Carney in Auckland.

Richard was appointed to the Continental Board of Australasia for a second five year term in November 1985. In August 1986 he attended a National Bahá'í Peace Conference in the Marshall Islands. On May 3, 1987, a reception in Richard's honor was held during the National Bahá'í Convention in Bikenibeu, Tarawa, which was attended by the President of Kiribati. In 1989 Benson remarried to fellow Bahá’í Beatrice and he completed his service as Counsellor at the end of his second term in 1990.

In 2001 Richard retired from the Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia and returned to Guam, and began to serve as Judge Pro Tempore of the Superior Court of Guam, and Justice Pro Tempore of the Supreme Court of Guam, and also continued to serve on Courts in Micronesia. In 2003 he began working for Inafa' Maolek, a non-profit organization dedicated to peaceful conflict resolution via mediation in domestic, parent-child and small civil disputes. As of 2012 he has mediated over fifty cases for the organization.

In 2012 Richard was honored with the Hustisia Award, which is given annually by the Guam Judiciary to a person or organization that has "contributed significantly to the improvement of the administration of justice." Chief Justice F. Philip Carbullido of the Guam Supreme Court said the following of Benson:

"We are delighted and honored to recognize the important role that Judge Pro Tempore Benson has played in our island’s legal and judicial history. His service to the courts of Guam, the Northern Marianas, and the FSM reveal his involvement in the development of judicial systems here in the Pacific and his dedication to the islands"

He served as Senior Judge Pro Tempore on the Superior Court of Guam up until and including 2014.

Benson passed on November 17, 2021, survived by his wife Beatrice, sister Barbara, children Lang, Mark and Marzieh and stepchildren Shirin and Zeena. He was predeceased by his son David.