THE DIRECTOR of the Boston Regional Intelligence Center said on Tuesday that the center’s gang database is comprised of 3,853 people with active status. In a hearing held by the […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inOpinion
Streamlining the criminal complaint pipeline
IN RECENT YEARS, Massachusetts has made significant progress in the direction of criminal justice reform. The credit goes to progressive thinkers in the Legislature, the attorney general and several district […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A reckoning for prosecutors in drug lab scandal?
THE JANUARY 2013 drug arrest of disgraced Massachusetts state chemist Sonja Farak and its impact on thousands of drug cases was widely reported as it unfolded, and memorialized to devastating […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Audit faults data system used by DAs
IN AN AUDIT of the Cape and Islands district attorney’s office this week, state Auditor Suzanne Bump flagged the case management system used by all 11 Massachusetts district attorneys as outdated, citing in particular its information on juvenile defendants. If […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Mom charged with attempted murder for putting baby in trash can
SUFFOLK COUNTY District Attorney Rachael Rollins filed attempted murder charges on Monday against a 33-year-old woman accused of giving birth all alone in the bathroom of a house she was […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Former rep David Nangle pleads guilty to misusing campaign funds
FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE David Nangle pleaded guilty on Wednesday in federal court to using his campaign funds to pay for extensive personal expenses, then crafting schemes to cover up his spending. Nangle […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Judge denies injunction to cut prison population
A SUPERIOR COURT judge denied a preliminary injunction that would have required the state Department of Correction to make specific efforts to further reduce its prison population in light of […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
State nudges along design process for new women’s prison — again
A STATE SELECTION BOARD on Wednesday moved forward proposals to construct a new prison for women despite pushback from former prisoners and advocates who said the estimated $50 million for […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DOC accused of ‘deliberate indifference’ to prisoners
ATTORNEYS FOR for 11 prisoners accused the Massachusetts Department of Correction on Wednesday of deliberate indifference to a provision in the state budget requiring the release of inmates during the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Medical parole not always compassionate
TEN MONTHS after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered the Department of Correction to provide daily reports to shed light on the COVID-19 situation inside its facilities, questions are surfacing […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Needham police report exonerates officers of racial bias
MORE THAN A year after a black man was handcuffed by four police officers near a CVS store in Needham on suspicion of shoplifting, the police department is finally getting […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DOC proposing to tighten oversight of mail
THE STATE DEPARTMENT of Correction, citing concerns about drug deliveries, is proposing to tighten oversight of incoming prison mail, including correspondence from attorneys. During an online hearing on Friday, agency […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DOC moving slowly on home confinement releases
THE LEGISLATURE a month ago gave the Department of Correction broader authority to release prisoners amid the pandemic, but so far the agency has taken little action. The legislation, passed […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Capitol insurrection unmasks the real terrorist next door
OUR FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT and criminal justice agencies have been dropping the ball on domestic terrorism. They simply have not seen the terrorists for what they are. At play are […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
State slow to improve criminal justice data collection
A WELL-KNOWN management maxim warns, if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. By that reckoning, those trying to better the state’s criminal justice system are often flying blind. How long, for example, does the average probationer in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Domestic violence homicides decline during pandemic
THERE WAS A significant drop in domestic violence-related homicides in Massachusetts in 2020, according to a new state report, but some worry that there may be a dark underside to what would normally be regarded […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Forced addiction treatment could be death sentence during COVID-19
AS THE COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate communities across this country, correctional facilities have become one of the most explosive epicenters of this public health crisis. Despite calls to rapidly […]
Posted inPolitics
Trump leaves, but the chaos sown remains
DONALD TRUMP will be the first president in more than 150 years not to attend his successor’s inauguration, jetting off this morning to Florida in a denialist huff about his […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A new women’s prison would be a mistake
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION announced recently that it will suspend operations at Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Shirley and South Middlesex Correctional Center in the wake of high rates of COVID-19 infections and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Prisoners to start getting vaccinated next week
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said the state’s 13,200 prisoners will begin receiving COVID-19 vaccinations on Monday along with about 80,000 residents and staff at homeless shelters, substance use treatment programs, and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker sees use for facial recognition in DC probes
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Tuesday he was glad that the state still has access to facial recognition technology as officials attempt to identify and prosecute Massachusetts residents who engaged […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Gross would face hurdles, opportunity in mayoral run
IF WILLIAM GROSS jumps into the race for mayor of Boston, one thing is clear: He’ll do so at a time when issues he oversees as the city’s top police […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Prisoner’s lawyer details attempted suicide
AN ATTORNEY representing a prisoner at a maximum security institution in Shirley says her client informed a corrections officer on January 2 that he was contemplating suicide and was told, […]
Posted inOpinion
The shameful COVID-19 death of Joseph Messere
ON THE LAST DAY of 2020, COVID-19 claimed the lives of 81 Massachusetts residents. Joseph Messere was one of those 81. Like the death of all of the others, Joe’s […]
