Boston has had just 2 homicides so far in 2024, and shootings are down 64 percent, an extraordinary start to the year in a city that already had low baseline rates of homicide and gun violence.
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
Restorative justice funding on the budget chopping block
A late-in-the-budget-process ask and a shrinking revenue forecast could spell trouble for two state initiatives – a three-year-old community grant program and a bid to launch a dedicated statewide office of restorative justice.
Posted inOpinion
Why we need more Parole Board members
The Massachusetts Parole Board, already stretched beyond its capacity to handle cases in a timely fashion, will soon have more because of a recent landmark Supreme Judicial Court ruling.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Healey faces heat over proposed reentry cuts
Being governor in times of plenty comes with the ability to make lots of people happy. When the revenue picture turns grim, Healey is learning, the mood quickly shifts.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Controversial gang database credited in big federal bust
The Boston Police Department’s controversial gang database has faced widespread criticism for improperly profiling young Black and Hispanic males, but Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said it played a crucial role in the recent federal bust of more than 40 people allegedly connected to a violent street gang.
Posted inGambling
On age minimums, state weaving a tangled tale
What’s the right age to grant the rights and responsibilities of adulthood? Based on current policy debates, it all depends. Are you looking to roll the dice or rob a store?
Posted inCourts
Courts preparing to give restorative justice a try
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM has a well-founded reputation for focusing on punishing offenders, but the Massachusetts court system is preparing to launch a three-year experiment this spring utilizing an approach […]
Posted inCourts
Former alderman gets two years in federal bribery case that rocked Somerville and Medford
An attempt to bribe Medford’s police chief –- part of a scheme to obtain approvals for a marijuana company that would earn him a six-figure yearly payout – earned former Somerville attorney and alderman Sean O’Donovan a two-year federal prison sentence
Posted inCriminal Justice
Legislators push to restore felon voting rights
Advocates and legislative allies are pushing to restore voting rights to more than 7,700 incarcerated felons in Massachusetts prisons and jails, a privilege taken away by a voter-approved constitutional amendment in 2000.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Incarceration and crime rates both down sharply since 2018 reforms
Five years after Massachusetts enacted sweeping reforms aimed at reducing incarceration and addressing racial disparities in the criminal justice system, a new study says the state has seen sharp decreases in both incarceration and crime rates.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Grubhub pays $3.5m to settle restaurant overcharging claims
n addition to the $3.5 million that Grubhub will pay to impacted restaurants, the company will also pay a $125,000 penalty to the Commonwealth.
Posted inCourts
No life without parole for those under 21, SJC rules
In a national first, a close SJC ruling declared it unconstitutional to sentence anyone under the age of 21 to life without the possibility of parole.
Posted inTransportation
Chamber CEO confident MBTA starting to turn a corner
He also called for more investment in transportation and housing while urging lawmakers on Beacon Hill to rein in spending and cut more unspecified “outlier” taxes that make the state less competitive.
Posted inOpinion
Every police ‘bad shoot’ should be treated as a system failure
We should be streamlining the path to restoration for the victims, not saddling them with the burden of demonizing cops and proving misconduct.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Short takes: A (different) public apology in Stuart case
Four years before Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s public apology over the city’s handling of the Stuart murder case, Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins offered a similar, if little noticed, mea culpa.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Campbell opens up about neighbor’s arrest
As the state’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Andrea Campbell sees it as her responsibility to protect the safety of all communities in Massachusetts — and that includes her own neighborhood in Mattapan.
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC weighs officer privacy against public records rights
The Supreme Judicial Court is wading into a drawn-out public records fight stemming from the Bristol County District Attorney’s refusal to release documents, recorded interviews, and the names of officers involved in the 2021 fatal shooting of 30-year-old Anthony Harden.
Posted inMarijuana
Judge puts off Goldberg-O’Brien meeting
A state judge sided with Shannon O’Brien on Tuesday, ruling that the suspended chair of the Cannabis Control Commission shouldn’t be required to meet with Treasurer Deborah Goldberg until all of the investigations into O’Brien are completed and the investigators are available for questioning.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Case dismissed in MBTA Alewife Garage crash
The MBTA wanted criminal charges to be filed against a man who tried to drive his car off the roof of the MBTA’s Alewife Garage in February, but a judge on Monday dismissed the case prior to arraignment.
Posted inBy The Numbers
Study finds Boston shoplifting rates up from pre-pandemic levels
With Black Friday signaling the arrival of the holiday shopping season, a new report says shoplifting rates in Boston are up compared to levels before the pandemic, though the city has avoided the spike in retail theft that several major US cities have experienced.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Campbell hires gun control advocate to lead gun violence unit
Attorney General Andrea Campbell has tapped a rural litigator who previously worked for a gun control advocacy group to head up a new unit aimed at reducing gun violence.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Auditor takes sex offender board to task
YEARS AFTER a 2017 audit of the Sex Offender Registry Board, the board has not made recommended changes to record and verify the current addresses of sex offenders in violation, […]
Posted inPolitics
Black Lives Matter comment stirs Boston City Council race
A TOP CONTENDER for one of Boston’s four City Council at-large seats is drawing heat for stating Black Lives Matter set race relations back 50 years. Bridget Nee-Walsh, a union […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
How ‘cop watchers’ can help improve policing
CAN POLICE TURN a perceived nuisance into an opportunity? Can they benefit from the efforts of smartphone-wielding “cop watchers” who dog them at crime and emergency scenes? The answer is […]
