E. M. Culliton

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Edward Milton Culliton (April 9, 1906 – March 14, 1991) was a Canadian judge and politician in Saskatchewan. Born in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, he grew up in Elbow, Saskatchewan, and studied at the University of Saskatchewan, earning an arts degree in 1926 and a law degree in 1928. He entered politics as a Liberal MLA for Gravelbourg in 1935, was re-elected in 1938, and served as Provincial Secretary from 1938 to 1941. He left to join the Canadian Army in 1941 but remained MLA as a Minister without Portfolio during the war. After the Liberal government was defeated in 1944, he returned to his law practice. He ran for Liberal leadership in 1946 but lost to Walter Tucker and was re-elected as MLA in 1948.

From 1951 to 1962, Culliton was a Justice of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, and from 1962 to 1981 he served as Chief Justice of Saskatchewan. He was Chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan from 1965 to 1968. As a judge, he articulated four sentencing goals: deterrence, rehabilitation, punishment, and protection of the public.

Culliton received several honors: Companion of the Order of Canada (1981), Saskatchewan Order of Merit (1988), Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (1973), and induction as a builder into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame (1974). He married Katharine Hector in 1939.