STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE PARENTING RIGHTS of a mother in a same-sex relationship extend even when the couple is unmarried and the mother has no biological connection to the […]
Courts
Posted inThe Download
Supreme Court leashes prosecutors
In an 8-0 ruling, the US Supreme Court dramatically scaled back the power of federal prosecutors to charge politicians with corruption. The ruling overturned the bribery conviction of former Virginia […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Walsh tourism chief indicted on extortion charge
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH HIS TOURISM chief due in federal court Thursday afternoon to face extortion charges, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh described 52-year-old Ken Brissette as a “good and […]
Posted inTransportation
Judge says Uber, Lyft should be treated like taxis
A FEDERAL JUDGE on Thursday ordered Boston officials to explain what regulations they plan to implement on ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft to treat them like cabs until […]
Posted inThe Download
Aging judiciously
“The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour…” Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â […]
Posted inThe Download
In his own image
Choosing justices for the state’s highest court is one of the most overlooked aspects of a governor’s powers, but is one that could now impact a generation or more. With […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Cordy to retire from SJC
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEÂ SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Justice Robert Cordy plans to retire in August, the court announced Wednesday, creating the first opportunity for Gov. Charlie Baker to make an […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Drug Addiction, Opinion
Ending driver’s license suspension for drug offenders
I APPLAUD THE members of the 189th General Court of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for finishing what their colleagues in the Senate started in September by unanimously supporting legislation […]
Posted inUncategorized
State courts revamp their website
THE STATE’S TRIAL COURT has upgraded its outmoded computer system to allow lawyers to electronically file case records and to allow judicial decisions to be shared automatically with other government […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
SJC: Corporal punishment excludes foster parents
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE’S HIGHEST COURT on Monday upheld the Department of Children and Families’ 2013 decision to deny the application of potential foster parents because of their […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Dealing fairly with pretrial detainees
IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, but there is a tested way to improve the fairness of our justice system while saving taxpayers money and lowering crime. The solution […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Back Story
Probation juror: Patronage ‘disgusting’ but not illegal
A LITTLE MOREÂ than a year after the guilty verdicts came down in the Probation Department hiring scandal and with the appeals process inching along, a former juror in the widely […]
Posted inTransportation
Rivera urges Pavegate prosecution of Lantigua
Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera on Thursday tried to drive a stake through the heart of the man he narrowly edged out in last year’s election by calling for William Lantigua […]
Posted inThe Download
DeLeo on offensive
House Speaker Robert DeLeo has been on the offensive recently, and very little of it has relied on charm. DeLeo has made the rounds with television reporters. He’s battering the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Probation jurors go with their heads
Jurors went with their heads rather than their hearts in finding former Probation commissioner John O’Brien and two of his top aides guilty of mail fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy. Their […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Summer heat turns up on DeLeo
There’s nothing like a summer news lull to fan the flames of a good scandal, and it’s House Speaker Robert DeLeo ’s turn in the glare of the beating summer […]
Posted inThe Download
SCOTUS sends Massachusetts back to the law books on abortion
In McCullen vs. Coakley, the US Supreme Court obliterates the 2007 Massachusetts law that set up a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics. The justices, who usually stake out distinctive positions […]
Posted inThe Download
Court says pay to play in television
The mantra among Internet cognoscenti is “Information wants to be free.” What’s strange is that many who argue that often are looking to profit off that information even if it […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Bulger speaks out on Probation probe
The federal corruption trial of former state Probation Department commissioner John O’Brien is lurching toward its third month. Now, as the trial builds toward a climactic confrontation between O’Brien and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
Criminalizing politics
US District Court Judge William Young keeps telling the jurors in the trial of former Probation commissioner John O’Brien and two of his top aides that the case is not […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Prosecution struggles in Probation Department case
Former Probation Department commissioner John O’Brien is on trial at a South Boston federal courthouse for allegedly running his department like a criminal enterprise. Federal prosecutors claim that O’Brien oversaw […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
State House on trial
Every weekday, for the next month or two, former state Probation Department boss John O’Brien will walk into the federal courthouse in South Boston and listen as prosecutors try to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Previews of Probation attractions
The opening statements of the prosecutors and defense attorneys in the federal corruption trial of former Probation commissioner John O’Brien and two of his top aides offered a tantalizing preview […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The long shadow over Willie Lantigua
Former Lawrence mayor William Lantigua is laying the groundwork for a political comeback. Former Lawrence mayor William Lantigua has a number of former aides lining up behind a courtroom defendant’s […]