AT THIS WRITING, many Massachusetts communities are imposing new mask rules to address the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, while public and private sector leaders are debating the merits of requiring vaccinations. For his part, Gov. Charlie Baker has mandated vaccinations for executive branch employees, but he has said he does not plan to utilize […]
Lawrence Friedman
Lawrence Friedman teaches constitutional law at New England Law | Boston and is the co-author of "The Oxford Commentary on the Massachusetts State Constitution. "
Posted inOpinion
SJC got Baker emergency orders case right
THERE ARE AT least two important takeaways from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in Desrosiers v. Governor, in which the court upheld Gov. Charlie Baker’s authority to issue emergency orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. First, the court’s conclusion was undoubtedly correct. The plaintiffs argued that the governor had “usurped” the role of […]
Posted inOpinion
Challenge to Baker emergency powers likely to fail
A GROUP OF MASSACHUSETTS entrepreneurs, pastors, and an educator has mounted a court challenge to Gov. Charlie Baker’s authority to issue emergency orders to address the novel coronavirus in the Commonwealth. According to Michael Degrandis, counsel for the plaintiffs, the governor has unconstitutionally “usurped the role of the Legislature by exercising the police power”—that is, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
In indigent defense case, precedent for strong SJC action
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, in Lavallee v. Justices in the Hampden Superior Court, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court addressed the shortage of attorneys available to represent indigent criminal defendants in Hampden County, which resulted in persistent denial of the right to counsel under the state and federal constitutions. The cause of the shortage was no mystery: […]
Posted inOpinion
Why Massachusetts was right to reject judicial term limits – again
The framers of the Massachusetts Constitution believed fair judicial decisions required that judges be removed from politics. And so the constitution provides that, after their nomination by the governor and approval by the governor’s council, state judges enjoy tenure until age seventy. This method of judicial retention served as a model for the federal system. […]
Posted inOpinion
Little buzz on ballot question with wide impact
MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS FACE three ballot questions this November. Though Question 2 has received the least attention, it has the potential to affect every citizen of the Commonwealth—and, perhaps, the nation. Question 2 proposes a volunteer commission be convened to consider amending the U.S. Constitution to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United […]