AMID GROWING CONCERNS over violence in Boston schools, a new poll finds that more than two-thirds of parents of Boston Public Schools students are worried about their children’s safety in school and three-quarters would support a return of police to the city’s schools. The survey, conducted by the MassINC Polling Group for the Shah Family Foundation, […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
Juul to pay Mass. $41 million in multi-state settlement
MASSACHUSETTS WILL RECEIVE $41 million as part of a $462 million settlement between e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. and six states plus the District of Columbia for the company’s role promoting nicotine vaping among young people. The settlement announced Wednesday concludes lawsuits from New York, Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico and Washington, DC, alleging […]
Posted inTransportation
Ex-Keolis official accused in $8m commuter rail fraud
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A FORMER TOP OFFICIAL at Keolis Commuter Services pleaded not guilty to a slew of federal charges Wednesday after prosecutors alleged that he and another man working for a Keolis vendor stole more than $8 million from the company that operates the MBTA’s commuter rail system. Prosecutors accused John Pigsley, 58, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
We need to learn from criminal justice mistakes
OUR IDEA of safety is person-based. Whenever something goes tragically wrong in criminal justice our reflex is to go “down and in” to find the malfunctioning human whose misconduct defeated our safe system and victimized a helpless citizen. We equate “accountability” with “punishment.” In the context of the police violence that is now a media […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
In quest to improve policing, time is on our side
IN THE WORLD of policing, what do waiting for nature to call to a drunken – and disruptive – Red Sox fan, taking a measured approach to car stops, and calmly engaging someone who is illegally selling loose cigarettes all have in common? They use the resource of time to achieve a desired outcome with […]
Posted inTransportation
Will Healey go inside or outside for State Police and MBTA hires?
IF LEADERSHIP IS key to righting a listing state agency, nothing Gov. Maura Healey does in the coming weeks may be as important as her selection of new leaders to helm the problem-plagued State Police and the teetering MBTA, which can only be called a rapid transit system these days with tongue firmly in cheek. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
The problem isn’t just a few bad apples
Now we learn that Inspector General Glen Cuhna, who once seemed ready to pin a massive state drug lab scandal on a lone chemist, Annie Dookhan, actually referred four other lab workers for prosecution. Interesting. Still, counting the number of “bad apples” shouldn’t distract us from the reality that the Massachusetts lab scandals were not the work of […]
Posted inOpinion
I saw parallels to Clancy case as a juvenile court judge
THE TRAGIC DEATH of the beautiful Clancy children may portend a long overdue indictment of the cavalier use of powerful psychotropic medications over non-pharmacological methods of treatment for those suffering from mental illness. For decades in Massachusetts, the reckless indifference of prescribing psychiatrists and other providers has caused lasting and harmful consequences for so many […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
MBTA seeks charges in connection with suicide attempt
ATTEMPTING SUICIDE IS treated as a crime in a handful of countries around the world, but not in the United States – which is why the MBTA’s decision to seek criminal charges against a man who endangered the safety of passengers while allegedly trying to commit suicide at the Alewife Station parking garage is so […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A roadmap for expanding liberty and democracy
ACROSS THE COUNTRY, fundamental freedoms are under attack: from near-total abortion bans to the criminalization of trans people to endemic voter suppression. We’re proud that Massachusetts leaders have charted a different course, passing best-in-the-nation abortion protections, safeguards for gender-affirming care providers, and major voting reforms. While other states are focused on closing hearts and minds, […]