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.
Courts
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: A notable absence in the ‘Nature for Massachusetts’ coalition
The Environmental League of Massachusetts, one of the state’s oldest advocacy organizations, is sitting out a ballot campaign backed by some of the bigger names in environmental advocacy.
Posted inOpinion
The answer to the school desegregation lawsuit? Revive urban communities.
This long-overdue school desegregation lawsuit may provide the push we need to change the conversation from cross-district enrollment to place-based revitalization of urban neighborhoods.
Posted inState Government
SJC ruling opens a path for legislative audit without ending the bitter dispute
Don’t expect a tidy resolution now that the state’s highest court has stamped an initial mark on the auditor’s long-running crusade to probe the House and Senate.
Posted inHousing
One year in, backers of Massachusetts’s eviction sealing law say there is promise — and an awareness problem
The idea behind the law is to let tenants wipe the slate clean from certain evictions and not have those cases present obstacles to renting an apartment, securing a mortgage to buy a home, or finding employment.
Posted inOpinion
Voting Rights Act ruling can harm belief in fair representation, even in bluest states like Massachusetts
Civic participation is shaped as much by trust as it is by policy. That’s why leadership at the state level must be proactive, visible, and unequivocal in the face of federal rulings that set us back.
Posted inPolitics
Lawmakers complete bid to kill legislative stipend reforms
Supporters have framed the measure as a pro-democracy reform aimed at rebalancing power in a system that they say rewards loyalty to Democratic leadership. Lawmakers have pushed back harshly against that characterization.
Posted inOpinion
In Boston police shooting and LaGuardia tragedy, strikingly different approaches to the ‘decisive moment’
If we learn to look, every “decisive moment” can teach us what came before it, what lay beneath it, and what we can do beyond it to prevent recurrence.
Posted inOpinion
In charging Boston police officer with manslaughter, Suffolk DA ignored broader framing mandated by US Supreme Court
Under the Constitution, the question is not whether the officer was ultimately right. The question is whether a reasonable officer, confronted with the same tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving circumstances, could have perceived an immediate threat and responded in this way.
Posted inCourts
High court justices weigh deadline for Campbell-DiZoglio resolution
During oral arguments, the Supreme Judicial Court signaled it might order Attorney General Andrea Campbell and Auditor Diana DiZoglio to agree on a narrow scope of issues by a certain date, in an attempt to force forward movement in the long-running fight about auditing the Legislature.
Posted inOpinion
I want statues of saints at my church, not at my police station
Installing two larger-than-life Christian saints to loom over the entrance of our public safety building sends a clear message to non-Christians.
Posted inCourts
Clash with prediction market giant Kalshi reaches SJC
In September, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell sued Kalshi for offering what she claims equates to “illegal sports betting” without proper licensing.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts promised community-based care for those with serious mental illness. Budget cuts could undermine that.
In April 2024, the state signed on to the Marsters v. Healey settlement, a federal court-enforced agreement to transition at least 2,400 residents with serious mental illness and other disabilities out of nursing facilities and into community settings over eight years, backed by projected investments exceeding $1 billion.
Posted inBallot Questions
Fate of potential $5 billion hit to state budget heads to court
Legislative leaders would no doubt welcome a ruling from the SJC that the ballot question cannot go before voters, but the case against the question rests on a technical challenge that is rarely successful.
Posted inHousing
Most low-income tenants have no lawyer in eviction cases. A state initiative is trying to change that.
“If you’re evicted from public housing, for all intents and purposes, a family will never have a chance to get back to it because the wait lists will be so long,” said Daniel Daley, a senior housing attorney at MetroWest Legal Services. The “double whammy,” he said – losing both housing and subsidy simultaneously – is what makes these cases so dire.
Posted inOpinion
We’ve lived in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Here’s why we’re fighting to ‘Raise the Age.’
Too often, young adults in the criminal justice system are told the second they reach 18 that their mistakes are who they are rather than something they can learn from. We know this is not true.
Posted inCourts
Record-smashing tobacco verdict doesn’t warrant a new trial, SJC rules
Massachusetts’s highest court on Wednesday affirmed $56 million in punitive damages in a wrongful death suit against tobacco giant Philip Morris, rejecting the company’s argument that a jury’s initial award was so extreme it demonstrated prejudice requiring a new trial.
Posted inGovernment
How would proposed age restrictions on social media use actually work?
Massachusetts may join a growing number of governments here and abroad looking to force stricter rules for social media companies with young users.
Posted inLocal Government
Political Notebook: South Hadley voters reject controversial Proposition 2½ override
The proposals sparked a heated local debate as sluggish state aid growth and strict limits on local tax increases continue to trap many local governments in a difficult position with few options to manage rising costs.
Posted inCourts
In first ruling of its kind, Mass. high court says Meta not shielded from lawsuits over addictive features
The Supreme Judicial Court became the first statewide high court to decide that a 1996 federal law shielding internet platforms from liability over user-posted content does not render Meta immune to allegations that its design exploited young users.
Posted inCourts
Should a community be able to reject a solar project to protect its trees? The SJC wades into the controversy in central Mass.
The justices appeared to be grappling with the genuine desire of a community to protect its character with the limited authority of localities to stall development.
Posted inCourts
DiZoglio-Campbell feud hurtles toward Supreme Judicial Court
Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s scorched-earth reply to outreach from Attorney General Andrea Campbell made clear that she sees court as the only venue to resolve her stalled legislative audit. Her team will soon get a chance to pitch the state’s top justices.
Posted inCourts
PROTECT Act will disrupt ‘soft diplomacy’ between ICE, state courts
Chief Justice of the Trial Court Heidi Brieger described for lawmakers the more informal relationships that she said she and Court Administrator Thomas Ambrosino have had “at a very deep level” with various leaders of ICE in New England.
Posted inCourts
Supreme Judicial Court says it’s up to Legislature, not judiciary, to set pay for court-appointed lawyers
Justices were wary of overstepping the “separation of powers” in a bid for courts to increase pay for attorneys who represent indigent defendants.
