BERKSHIRE DISTRICT ATTORNEY Andrea Harrington is participating in a unique national pilot program to track what goes into negotiating plea deals by prosecutors in her office. If she discovers race plays a role, she won’t be surprised. “I know that we’re going to see racial disparities. There’s no way we cannot. I mean, they exist throughout […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
High court sides with DOC on prison COVID rules
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT ruled Thursday that the Department of Correction has not been “deliberately indifferent” to inmates’ health during the COVID pandemic, because it took precautions and, most significantly, offered COVID vaccines to all inmates. Attorneys for prisoners had argued that the department should have done more to release prisoners because of the health […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Bill would let Tompkins hold men solely for substance use treatment
SUFFOLK COUNTY SHERIFF Steven Tompkins could get permission to treat people civilly committed for substance use disorders in the Suffolk County jail, under a bill pending before the Legislature that is adding to the controversy already swirling around Tompkins’s role in cleaning up “Mass. and Cass” — the area around Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker refiles marijuana-impaired driving bill
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday announced that he is taking another run at passing a bill to stop people from driving while impaired by marijuana. Baker said the bill will enhance public safety “by equalizing alcohol and marijuana and giving law enforcement more tools to keep our roads safe from impaired drivers.” The bill is […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Can sheriffs collect lucrative commissions from inmate phone calls?
FOR YEARS, Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson’s office collected hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in telephone fees paid by family members, attorneys, and others who received calls from county jail inmates. Similar structures are set up across the state’s county jail system, and advocates for prisoners have long been trying to get the Legislature to curb […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
12 charged in lottery deception scheme
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A DOZEN PEOPLE and three stores were indicted Friday by a statewide grand jury in connection to what Attorney General Maura Healey’s office called “an ongoing scheme to rob the state of tax revenue by laundering lottery winnings and lying under oath on numerous lottery claim forms.” The 12 defendants include […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Drug Addiction
A fix for the crisis at Mass. and Cass?
ACTING MAYOR Kim Janey declared last week that Boston will move to dismantle the tent city of homeless people that has grown in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard. Janey’s announcement that shelter beds will be found for everyone whose tent is taken down came on the heels of a proposal from […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Tsarnaev appeal centers on juror bias in the social media age
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Common license. THE US SUPREME COURT heard oral argument last week in the case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the lone surviving Boston Marathon bomber. While much of the news coverage has focused on whether the court will uphold the death penalty for Tsarnaev, the case also […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Hampden DA notifying 8,000 criminal defendants of police misconduct
AMID NATIONAL CALLS for police reform and greater transparency in law enforcement, the Springfield Police Department has become a troubling example of what can happen without strong public accountability. Last year, the department was the subject of a scathing report by the US Department of Justice, which documented a pattern of use of excessive force […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Trial Court chief Paula Carey to retire
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TRIAL COURT CHIEF JUSTICE Paula Carey, one of the most influential figures in the Massachusetts judiciary, plans to retire early next year after the better part of a decade in the role, officials announced Friday. Carey will step down in January 2022 as the policy and judicial head of the Trial […]