New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has found the solution for a political culture that responds to a gun massacre by stampeding away from any debate about gun laws. Bloomberg is […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Gateway Cities crack down on crime
The state’s Gateway Cities are plagued by poverty, anemic economic growth, and lagging educational attainment. What gets less attention is crime, which is a symptom of the lack of economic […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Restaurants in Boston get infrequent inspections
the massachusetts sanitary code requires municipalities to check restaurants for health code violations twice a year, but the city of Boston often is doing the inspections less frequently, in some […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Hold your fire
DAVID KENNEDY IS an unlikely figure to be leading the charge on behalf of an innovative policing strategy to combat urban gun violence. For starters, he’s not a cop and has […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Changes in laws keep teen drivers safer
for most teens, obtaining a drivers’ license means newfound freedom and independence. For many decades, it also meant something more sobering: a higher risk than any other age group that […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Sex offenders challenge Lynn’s residency ban as unconstitutional
a court challenge to a Lynn ordinance that bans Level 2 and 3 sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school or park could impact 43 other cities […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Bulger shoots blanks
It was always going to come to this, and yesterday, J.W. Carney made it official: Whitey Bulger’s upcoming murder trial will be as much about Bulger’s sordid relationship with law […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Environment, Politics
Murray rips NRC, Entergy
As the lockout of workers at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth continues amid stalled contract negotiations, Senate President Therese Murray had some harsh words Thursday for the Nuclear […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
Sex offender faces probation hearing for saying hi
A Level 3 sex offender in Andover is scheduled for a probation violation hearing after police discovered he helped a 10-year-old boy recover a lost hockey puck and said hello […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Texas justice
Jerry Madden couldn’t help but acknowledge the oddity of the situation. A conservative Republican who serves as House chairman of the Texas Legislature’s Committee on Corrections, Madden was the featured […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Society’s lepers
on a chilly night in early February, the Massachusetts website that informs the public where the state’s most dangerous sex offenders are living indicates 41 of them are staying at […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Calling for backup
the framingham police officer called for a different sort of backup. He was at a department store in a local mall where a woman suspected of shoplifting was acting strangely. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, State House News Service
Report details impact of sentencing bills
CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed the estimate of a habitual offender’s extra time in prison under the House and Senate bills […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
The Thin Blue Line’s thinner wallets
Cities and towns were just handed some fiscal relief by the state Supreme Judicial Court but don’t expect a lot of high-fiving among local officials to follow. If past is […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
CommonWealth urged to rethink use of name
By Janet W. Wohlberg I am writing in response to a recent CommonWealth story about the sexual and emotional abuse of a patient by a renowned Boston-area psychoanalyst. In the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, The Download
Is Lynn overreacting?
City and school officials in Lynn say they plan to prosecute two freshman girls who fought each other at Cook Street Park and discipline at least 27 other children who […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
DiMasi moves, Beacon Hill quakes
Last month, the Globe reported that federal prosecutors had “essentially completed their investigation” into rigged hiring at the state’s Probation Department, saying indictments “could be imminent.” Soon after, the Lowell […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Economy, Education, Health Care
Patrick delivers state of the state
Below is the full text of Governor Deval Patrick’s state of the state address, delivered Monday night at the State House. Lieutenant Governor and fellow Constitutional Officers, Madame President, Mr. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
A plan to master prison overcrowding
The Patrick administration is set to unveil a Corrections Master Plan tomorrow to deal with what is expected to be a near-crisis in the growth of the state’s inmate population – […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Mass. Bar, judges push court funds
The state’s judges are lobbying Beacon Hill for more funding for the court system through an unusual collaboration with the Massachusetts Bar Association. The MBA, which represents attorneys who practice […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion, Politics
Georgia governor attacking recidivism
Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia gave his State of the State speech on Jan. 10. The portion below addresses corrections and the recidivism problem in Georgia, the focus of a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Smart on crime
several of the nation’s most conservative, tough-on-crime states are spearheading a growing reform movement that’s cutting both crime and prison costs. The dramatic changes taking place in Texas, Mississippi, South […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Exodus of employees slows courts, raises safety concerns
droves of employees are leaving the state’s court system, slowing down the delivery of justice and raising safety concerns inside courtrooms. To cope with budget cutbacks, court officials imposed a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, State House News Service
Lt. Gov. Murray was going 108 mph
Click here to see the collision reconstruction report. Video from Lt. Governor Murray’s January 3rd press conference. Via State House News Service New black box data from Lt. Gov. Timothy […]
