Reading about the Massachusetts State Police overtime scandal is like opening a Pandora’s box that can never be shut. This week, out of the box popped a lieutenant who allegedly […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
New system lets survivors track rape kits
MASSACHUSETTS IS ROLLING out a new system that will allow survivors of sexual assault to track online the processing of evidence collected from them at hospitals following an assault. A […]
Posted inThe Download
Rollins shows her mettle
For years, showdowns in the criminal justice system often followed a predictable storyline: A judge used his or her discretion to lean toward the side of compassion for a defendant […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Rollins shows her mettle
FOR YEARS, showdowns in the criminal justice system often followed a predictable storyline: A judge used his or her discretion to lean toward the side of compassion for a defendant […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC voids medical parole regulations
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT issued a ruling Tuesday that will make it easier for Massachusetts prisoners to request medical parole, which is sometimes called compassionate release. The court held that […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Prepping to move female prisoners at MCI-Framingham
A STATE BOARD looking to convert two rundown prisons in Norfolk and Framingham into facilities that can house female prisoners from MCI-Framingham has narrowed the list of project designers to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Corrections union pulls criminal justice law into Souza brawl debate
The union representing prison corrections officers is pointing to the state’s massive criminal justice reform bill, enacted in 2018, as the cause of violence at the state’s maximum security prison, […]
Posted inThe Download
Corrections union pulls criminal justice law into Souza brawl debate
The union representing prison corrections officers is pointing to the state’s massive criminal justice reform bill, enacted in 2018, as the cause of violence at the state’s maximum security prison, […]
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 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
After Trust Act signing, Gross defensive
ONLY MOMENTS AFTER Boston Mayor Marty Walsh signed the Immigrant Trust Act, Police Commissioner William Gross fended off questions about his department previously sharing information with federal immigration enforcement under […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DOC backtracking on MCI-Framingham
THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION appears to be backtracking on the troubled women’s prison at MCI-Framingham. In October, when Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins said MCI-Framingham was closing and then later amended […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DAs suspend participation in Mass. Sentencing Commission
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MEMBERS OF THE STATE’S district attorneys association are no longer participating in the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission, a panel the prosecutors say is not complying with state […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC faces tricky constitutional challenge in indigent defense case
THE STATE’S HIGHEST COURT is wrestling with a case centered on how to guarantee a fundamental constitutional right of the judicial system — the right of criminal defendants, even those […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
New law restricts cellphone use while driving
Gov. Charlie Baker ushered in a new era of road rules on Monday, signing into law a new ban on practically all forms of handheld cellphone use by drivers. For […]
Posted inTransportation
Concerns on police bias linger after distracted driving vote
OVERWHELMING VOTES IN the House and Senate to enact driver safety legislation belie enduring disagreements within the Legislature over how best to monitor and tamp down racial bias by police. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DOC launching unit for young inmates who are fathers
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONÂ is planning to open a special unit for incarcerated fathers between the ages of 18 to 24, with the goal of helping them straighten out their […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Pressley goes ginormous on criminal justice reform
CONGRESSWOMAN AYANNA PRESSLEY released a plan to reform the criminal legal system that she’s calling “bold and progressive,” dubbing it the “People’s Justice Guarantee.” The wide-ranging resolution calls for reducing […]
Posted inOpinion
Bump follows lead of DAs
STATE AUDITOR SUZANNE BUMP has joined the debate over the legal status of the advisory sentencing guidelines that the state’s Sentencing Commission issued two years ago. Her audit of the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Bump weighs in on sentencing guideline dispute
STATE AUDITOR SUZANNE BUMP released an audit on Thursday that concluded draft sentencing guidelines are being used by judges across the state even though the guidelines have never been enacted […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
State Police chief retiring
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE After exactly two years leading the 2,100-member Massachusetts State Police force during a time of scandal and turmoil, Col. Kerry Gilpin will retire as superintendent at […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
30 years after Stuart case, Boston still healing
Thirty years ago, in October 1989, a murder case shook Boston to the core. Charles Stuart and his pregnant wife, Carol DiMaiti Stuart, were shot in the Mission Hill neighborhood […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Showdown over shortage of lawyers for poor heading to SJC
ALL DEFENDANTS in criminal cases are constitutionally entitled to legal representation, regardless of their ability to pay for an attorney. But what happens when the office charged with providing lawyers […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
New tool needed to ensure school bus safety
EVERY MORNING and afternoon in Boston, you’ll see children, families and caretakers running to and from yellow school buses — and as the mayor and police commissioner of Boston, there […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Advocates call for reforms to aid inmate voting
AS COMMUNITIES ACROSS the state prepare for municipal elections on Tuesday, one group of would-be voters might be more inclined to cast ballots if the process were simpler. Thousands of […]
