By Jack Sullivan
Judging from comments House Speaker Robert DeLeo made to The Republican of Springfield, it doesn’t appear there’s any appetite in the Legislature for reining in the autonomy of the state’s probation commissioner.
DeLeo said he does not see the “operational dysfunction” in the Trial Court that was outlined in a 23-page report by the Court Management Advisory Board. The board said the Legislature has insulated the probation service as well as many clerks from oversight by top court officials. Many believe the Legislature, and the House in particular, uses probation as a patronage haven, but DeLeo doesn’t see a problem.
“What I’ve heard by talking to various clerks, probation officers, and some of the judges even, is that they feel like their particular courts are being well run from the judge’s perspective, from the clerk’s perspective, and from probation’s perspective,” DeLeo told the newspaper. “I’m not so sure I would phrase it as a dysfunctional problem.”
Robert Mulligan, chief justice for administration and management of the Trial Court, is seeking greater oversight over probation, and Gov. Deval Patrick sought in his budget proposal for next year to move the department into the executive branch for efficiency and to eliminate patronage.
Patrick’s proposal was not included in the House budget plan, and Mulligan’s pleas were ignored by House budget officials. Rep. Charles Murphy, the House’s chief budget official, said the Legislature wasn’t about to cede its authority over probation to either the government or court officials.
Patrick seemed to step up his criticism of probation in remarks to the Republican. “I will say I think it is the least transparent agency in government and, in some respects, the least accountable,” Patrick said.
Commissioner of Probation John J. O’Brien, who only responds to inquiries by email, disputed the findings in the Court Management Advisory Board’s report and insisted he is but one cog in the hiring process at the agency he oversees. But Rep. Stanley Rosenberg told The Republican that probation may be the last vestige of old-style patronage, outside of quasi-public agencies.
