For most police officers, pepper spray is standard equipment, a tool lauded in the law enforcement world as an alternative to lethal force. But a case in Northampton is raising […]
Criminal justice reform
Posted inCriminal Justice
Pepper-sprayed man accuses Northampton of racial bias
FOR MOST POLICE OFFICERS, pepper spray is standard equipment, a tool lauded in the law enforcement world as an alternative to lethal force. But a case in Northampton is raising […]
Posted inOpinion
Justice reinvestment gets seed funding in budget
AS MASSACHUSETTS IMPLEMENTS last year’s sweeping criminal justice reform package, we must stay focused on justice reinvestment—the effort to squeeze more public safety from limited resources by reducing prison terms […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
McGrath provides services for women leaving prison
A LITTLE OVER A YEAR after it closed, a new and improved McGrath House is up and running as the only exclusively female residential reentry program in Massachusetts. McGrath serves […]
Posted inThe Download
Is Rollins right to be angry?
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins and 19 educators who support her approach to justice are angry about a Boston Globe story examining her record in prosecuting crimes over the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Is Rollins right to be angry?
SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY Rachael Rollins and 19 educators who support her approach to justice are angry about a Boston Globe story examining her record in prosecuting crimes over the […]
Posted inThe Download
O’Keefe jumps jurisdictions with charges against Rollins
The state’s district attorneys are generally in the business of bringing charges against alleged criminal offenders, not against each other. But Cape and Islands DA Michael O’Keefe’s op-ed in yesterday’s […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
O’Keefe jumps jurisdictions with charges against Rollins
THE STATE’S DISTRICT ATTORNEYS are generally in the business of bringing charges against alleged criminal offenders, not against each other. But Cape and Islands DA Michael O’Keefe’s op-ed in yesterday’s […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Rollins, ICE make nice
SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY Rachael Rollins said on Tuesday that her office has had better cooperation with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement since she and a fellow DA filed a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Trump: Ryan, Rollins ‘don’t mind crime’
PRESIDENT TRUMP on Wednesday called for the resignation of Sen. Elizabeth Warren over her claims of Native American ancestry and described a lawsuit filed by two Massachusetts district attorneys to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Proposal nudges sheriffs into civil asset forfeiture
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION and House leaders seem intent on giving the state’s sheriffs a more formal role in accessing civil asset forfeiture money – the controversial bounty that law enforcement […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker aide raises concerns about DA’s memo
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S top public safety official has asked new Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins to reconsider some of the controversial policies she rolled out […]
Posted inOpinion
The ‘wolf’ of solitary confinement
AFTER THE ENACTMENT of the Missouri Compromise in 1820 prolonged the impasse over slavery with little hope for a peaceful resolution, Thomas Jefferson offered this assessment of the nation’s quandary: […]
Posted inThe Download
With homicides, a tale of two very different cities
Is it possible to maintain a fierce urgency to reduce gun violence in Boston, while also taking stock of how much worse things could be and being grateful for the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
With homicides, a tale of two very different cities
IS IT POSSIBLE to maintain a fierce urgency to reduce gun violence in Boston, while also taking stock of how much worse things could be and being grateful for the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Should ‘lifers’ get a chance for parole?
SOME BEACON HILL LAWMAKERS are making another push for legislation that would allow the 1,050 Massachusetts inmates serving life prison sentences to be eligible for parole hearings. Rep. Jay Livingstone […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
New rules on solitary confinement coming under fire
LESS THAN A YEAR ago, Gov. Charlie Baker signed two comprehensive criminal justice bills that were the result of a marathon of bipartisan discussions over many years. The laws contained […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
The life (and death) stories that drive Andrea Campbell
ANDREA CAMPBELL’S TWIN BROTHER Andre died seven years ago while awaiting trial in the custody of the state Department of Correction, and she says that has everything to do with […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Trump the criminal justice reformer
EFFORTS TO REFORM the US criminal justice system have been characterized by an alliance of unlikely bedfellows, with liberal groups like the ACLU joining with Right on Crime, a conservative […]
Posted inThe Download
Trump the criminal justice reformer
Efforts to reform the US criminal justice system have been characterized by an alliance of unlikely bedfellows, with liberal groups like the ACLU joining with Right on Crime, a conservative […]
Posted inOpinion
Benjamin LaGuer deserves a break
IT HAS BEEN SAD to see news updates on opposition to long-time Massachusetts inmate Benjamin LaGuer’s bid for a compassionate release because he has liver cancer and only months to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC dismisses thousands more drug cases
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THOUSANDS MORE drug convictions tied to testing done by criminal chemist Sonja Farak and the former state drug lab in Amherst will be dismissed after the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker: Dangerousness hearings a priority
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE EXPECTED TO TALK about cancer research and philanthropy, Gov. Charlie Baker instead found himself Tuesday morning trying to earn support from a sports talk radio show […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Course corrections
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MEGHAN MOORE THE HAMPDEN COUNTY SHERIFF’S Pre-release Center in Ludlow looks pretty much like what you’d expect of a minimum security jail—clean but stark. Then, Zadie and Misty, […]
