As most cities and towns got into compliance with the housing law — eagerly or dragging their feet along the way — some holdouts were hoping that the state’s high court would rule that they did not have to rezone. It was a longshot bid, after the SJC already upheld the law as enforceable by the attorney general’s office in early 2025.
Courts
Posted inEnergy
Massachusetts utilities, Canadian hydro company file dueling lawsuits over new transmission line
The unfolding legal drama marks a major pivot point for a project intended to provide 20 percent of Massachusetts’s electricity — and exposes just how fragile and volatile the state’s energy mix continues to be.
Posted inCourts
SJC says Nahant can take Northeastern University land
“In short, the town’s stated purpose for the taking is a proper public purpose” that aligned with past actions by the town indicating interest in preserving the area, and not a bad faith ploy, wrote Justice Elizabeth Dewar for a unanimous court.
Posted inCourts
Jury clears Suffolk Sheriff Tompkins of extortion charges
Tompkins and his attorneys argued prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence of a quid pro quo or corrupt intent.
Posted inCourts
State moves to dismiss Springfield courthouse lawsuit
Hampden Superior Court Judge David Hodge found there was “no legal or logical support” for allegations of conflict of interest tied to the $2 billion redevelopment of the courthouse in Springfield.
Posted inPolitics
Confusion, but no immediate impacts of court ruling on voting by mail
“The bottom line is the issues before the United States Supreme Court would only affect the general [federal] election,” said Secretary of State William Galvin.
Posted inTechnology
$17 billion Meta settlement lands in hotbed of debate over social media regulations in Mass.
A landmark agreement both reshapes Instagram and Facebook for teenagers, and adds fuel to legislative debate about permanent reforms.
Posted inCourts
Rep. Paulino pleads not guilty, due back in court October 7
Paulino faces eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of unlawful monetary transactions.
Posted inCourts
Wu hails White Stadium ruling as cranes and crews keep working
City officials cheered that the stadium project will now move ahead without delay, while opponents said the Supreme Judicial Court decision allowing construction to continue does not resolve their concerns about the stadium’s size, cost, private use, and impact on the surrounding park and neighborhoods.
Posted inCourts
High court rules against Quincy mayor on Catholic saint statues
The statues will be kept in storage and off the building while litigation continues at the lower court level. The visages of a winged Michael and towering Florian extinguishing fire await further judgment, but the ruling signals a rough legal road ahead for Quincy.
Posted inCourts
High court clears way for new White Stadium in Boston
In a unanimous decision Wednesday, the SJC declared the collection of conservationists and residents did not have standing to block the project.
Posted inCourts
Poor recordkeeping muddies latest target of MassHealth fraud probe
The latest defendant accused of defrauding the state’s Medicaid program is fighting the fraud charges. But he’s also blaming any errors on years of shoddy recordkeeping on the part of brokers and vendors that handle scheduling, patient records, and billing for the state’s Medicaid-covered rides.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Senate quietly launches another push for juvenile justice reforms
House and Senate negotiators hashing out a final deal on a sweeping jobs and business support package need to decide whether the measure should also embrace a major criminal justice reform: allowing many 18-year-olds to be tried in the youth justice system, not adult courts.
Posted inOpinion
IG report ignored the critical role of over-prosecution in straining the indigent defense system
Massachusetts cannot ignore the realities of how over-prosecution and overcharging are part of the reason for the price tag on indigent defense.
Posted inCourts
Appeals Court judges seem open to Maine limits on super PAC contributions
Backers of the Maine law argue that super PAC spending is rapidly ballooning, and becoming so associated with particular candidates and their pet issues that the principle of limiting campaign contributions should also apply to super PAC contributions.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts communities are learning to predict — and prevent — domestic violence homicide
Many domestic violence homicides are not random. They are often preceded by recognizable warning signs. When communities are trained to recognize those signs and respond together, outcomes can change.
Posted inCourts
SJC sides with solar developer in dispute with Petersham officials
The case before the justices laid bare the rising tensions over local control between solar developers and small communities across the state that are potential prime spots for large solar arrays thanks to their relatively cheap and abundant land.
Posted inCourts
The Mass. angle on US Supreme Court decisions
Massachusetts was actively engaged on many of the most important cases, with some of them running through the New England federal courts and Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office often wading in, typically with a coalition of blue state attorneys general.
Posted inEducation
Trump DOJ sues Mass. over immigrant tuition law
The Trump administration opened up another front in its campaign to crack down on immigrant communities by asking a federal judge to scrap a Massachusetts law that lets high school graduates without legal status attend public colleges and universities without paying higher, out-of-state tuition.
Posted inImmigration
US Supreme Court paves way for rollback of TPS protections for Haitians, Syrians
Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said the law allows “no judicial review” of any presidential administration’s termination of TPS designation. He also rejected the claim of a race motive in the Trump administration’s order.
Posted inBallot Questions
Mass. high court strikes rent control question from ballot
The decision averts a months-long season of aggressive campaigning that seemed sure to generate tens of millions of dollars in spending on attack ads and dire warnings about economic upheaval.
Posted inBallot Questions
Mass. primary election overhaul eligible for November ballot, SJC rules
Should Massachusetts run its elections more like California? That question is cleared to appear on the ballot, according to the state’s highest court, possibly teeing up a major shift in our notoriously uncompetitive races.
Posted inCourts
SJC keeps recreational marijuana repeal in the mix for November
The first of four expected rulings about ballot question eligibility went in favor of the campaign, with justices deciding that a push to reverse the 2016 statewide pot vote was properly certified and summarized.
Posted inOpinion
SJC should let tax-cut question stay on the ballot
The court’s role is only to determine whether the ballot summary fairly explains the proposal. Under both common sense and longstanding court precedent, it plainly does.
