THE POLICE are four times more likely to physically arrest a Black teen than a White teen for a juvenile offense. But why is that? Do Black teens commit more […]
criminal justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
Advocates say Baker trying to gut prison mental health law
THE MASSACHUSETTS prison system has long faced criticism for its inability to provide adequate mental health treatment to incarcerated people. A mental health bill that Gov. Charlie Baker signed into […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Corrections officials hear concerns about mail policy
Boston University Statehouse Program LEGAL ADVOCATES and family members of the incarcerated pushed for restoration of mail privileges at a Department of Correction hearing on Wednesday, saying the decision to […]
Posted inPolitics
Federal judge won’t intervene in Tran prosecution
A FEDERAL JUDGE has declined to intervene to stop Attorney General Maura Healey’s prosecution of congressional candidate Dean Tran. Tran, a Republican former state senator who is challenging Democratic US […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Senate resurrects dangerousness bill in after-midnight vote
BANISHED TO the Legislature’s study scrap heap and crushed by a vote in the House on Saturday, a proposal to expand the offenses for which a defendant can be declared […]
Posted inOpinion
Rep. Day and Sen. Eldridge belittle our stories as victims
A “WELL-CRAFTED public relations tour?” For over eight months, more than a dozen survivors have gathered the courage to tell the public how we survived being beaten, threatened, and harassed […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker not giving up on dangerousness bill, despite study order
THE WOMAN, who survived domestic violence, said she risked her safety, allowed herself to be vulnerable, and emotionally relived her abuse to advocate on behalf of Gov. Charlie Baker’s bill […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Boston police captain cleared of most charges
A BOSTON POLICE captain who was on paid leave for 2½ years for violating the rules of conduct returned to work earlier this year and then scored a major victory […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lawmakers pass moratorium on prison expansion
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IT’S ALMOST TIME for Gov. Charlie Baker to decide exactly what he thinks about a legislative mandate preventing his administration from studying or constructing new correctional […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Wellesley gadfly convicted of extortion
A WELLESLEY RESIDENT with a history of hostility with the town was found guilty of extortion last week for threatening to file criminal charges against two Select Board members if […]
Posted inThe Download
Lawmakers eye expanding juvenile diversion to some violent offenses
In January, nearly four years after the idea was first conceived, the state launched its first state-run, state-funded juvenile diversion programs. The idea was to keep teenagers out of detention […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lawmakers eye expanding juvenile diversion to some violent offenses
IN JANUARY, nearly four years after the idea was first conceived, the state launched its first state-run, state-funded juvenile diversion programs. The idea was to keep teenagers out of detention […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Judge tosses 2 police questions as out of bounds
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE JUST DAYS before the deadline for thousands of law enforcement officers to be recertified, a judge has ruled that two of the eight questions that the […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
After three decades behind bars, man released because racism tainted his murder trial
AFTER SPENDING 31 years in prison for murder, Corey Glover walked out of MCI-Norfolk a free man on May 4, after arguing successfully that a juror’s racism prevented him from […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Report backs smaller women’s prison to replace MCI-Framingham
MASSACHUSETTS IS MOVING forward with plans to study replacing the MCI-Framingham women’s prison after a report issued by an independent consultant recommended moving the female inmates to a new facility […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lawmakers in agreement on prison construction moratorium
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE LEGISLATURE and Gov. Charlie Baker appear headed for another showdown, this time over the next half-decade of facilities management decisions for the state’s prisons and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
31,000 defendants to split $14m in settlement
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Roughly 31,000 defendants who had criminal convictions vacated in the wake of a massive state drug lab scandal are poised to split about $14 million in […]
Posted inThe Download
An awkward handoff at Suffolk DA’s office
It hasn’t exactly been a seamless transition at the Suffolk County district attorney’s office, which Rachael Rollins left in January to become US attorney. Gov. Charlie Baker named Kevin Hayden, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
If public safety is the goal, free prison calls are the answer
Decades of research shows that promoting communication between incarcerated people and their support networks has many benefits, chief among them, improving reentry success upon release and reducing recidivism.
Posted inCriminal Justice
What finally put undocumented immigrant driver’s license bill in play?
THE FIRST TIME a bill was proposed in Massachusetts to let immigrants without legal status obtain a driver’s license was in 2003. Since then, bills have regularly been introduced, languished […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s time for Mass. to eliminate cash bail
MASSACHUSETTS’ INCARCERATED population has been declining for several years. As a result, we now have the lowest overall incarceration rate in the US, and the Massachusetts Department of Corrections has […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
William Allen granted parole after 28 years in jail
THE PAROLD BOARD on Wednesday granted parole to William Allen, one of two men to have his first-degree murder sentence commuted by Gov. Charlie Baker earlier this year. After spending […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DOJ reaches police reform deal with Springfield
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE and city of Springfield plan to enter into a consent decree that will resolve the federal government’s claim that the Springfield […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Koonce murder sentence commuted after 31 years in jail
AFTER SPENDING 31 years in jail for murder, Thomas Koonce will soon be a free man. Gov. Charlie Baker commuted Koonce’s sentence in January and on Tuesday the Parole Board […]
