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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Will Reidy be different as Healey’s public safety chief?
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM advocates may have been looking to the arrival of a new Democratic governor on Beacon Hill to turn the page on differences they had with the Baker […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Advocates blocked from having lawyers at police meeting about missing East Boston woman
A FURTHER EXAMPLE of the disparate treatment by law enforcement of cases involving victims of color and White people, or an innocent misunderstanding in the heat of the moment? Those […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care, Opinion
Medicaid should cover the incarcerated
THERE IS AN UNSPOKEN and growing public health crisis in our country. For millions of Americans with serious health care needs, their treatment is not being provided at a hospital […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Healey’s office asks SJC to reinstate charges in Soldiers’ Home deaths
MISMANAGEMENT AT THE Holyoke Soldiers’ Home undoubtedly contributed to the high COVID-19 death toll there in the first days of the pandemic. The question before the state’s highest court is […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Berkshire County study tracks use of plea deals
AN UNPRECEDENTED look into how criminal cases get disposed of in Berkshire County reveals a trove of data, shedding a light on racial disparities, disparities based on lawyer type, and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Campuses report 901 cases of sexual misconduct
IN 2020, there were 901 reports of sexual misconduct on Massachusetts college campuses, of which two-thirds involved allegations between students, according to a new report released by the Department of […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Governor’s councilors seem supportive of Jubinville nomination
THE GOVERNOR’S COUNCIL on Wednesday considered one of their own – Councilor Robert Jubinville – as a nominee for a clerk magistrate’s job. The half-hour hearing was mainly a lovefest, although […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DOC accepts sweeping settlement on mental health care for prisoners
THE MASSACHUSETTS Department of Correction will have to completely transform the mental health care it provides to inmates, under a settlement the department reached with the US Department of Justice […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker officials slammed for criminal justice reform compliance
LEADERS OF THE Legislature’s Judiciary Committee and prisoners’ advocates at a hearing Tuesday slammed the outgoing administration of Gov. Charlie Baker for failing to properly implement the 2018 criminal justice […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
CLT chief accuses Baker of cowardice on Amirault pardons
THE RETIRING executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation on Thursday accused Gov. Charlie Baker of cowardice in withdrawing his bid to pardon Gerald Amirault and Cheryl Amirault LeFave, who […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker withdraws Amirault pardon recommendations
IN A STUNNING REVERSAL of a controversial policy recommendation, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday withdrew his recommendation to pardon Gerald Amirault and Cheryl Amirault LeFave, who were convicted in a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Governor’s Councilors skeptical of Amirault pardons
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER recommended pardoning Gerald Amirault and Cheryl Amirault Lefave, who were convicted in a high-profile child sexual abuse case. But members of the Governor’s Council on Tuesday suggested […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC judges pose dismissal of 27,000 tainted drunk driving convictions
THERE IS NO QUESTION that for years, state breathalyzer tests were not certified correctly, and Massachusetts’ Office of Alcohol Testing acted egregiously when it withheld evidence about failed calibrations of […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker issues three more pardons
AFTER FAILING TO issue a single pardon or commutation in his first seven years in office, Gov. Charlie Baker continued to use his final months in office to wield his […]
