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 facilities. Lawmakers on Thursday advanced a compromise bill that authorizes nearly $5.2 billion in bonds to repair, modernize and upgrade state buildings and, in an […]
criminal justice
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 they failed to seek the removal of several town officials from their positions. The unusual case centered around Ronald Alexander, a Wellesley resident who has […]
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 and avoid saddling them with a juvenile court record for minor offenses, like shoplifting or using illicit drugs. Now, lawmakers are considering expanding the diversion […]
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 and avoid saddling them with a juvenile court record for minor offenses, like shoplifting or using illicit drugs. Now, lawmakers are considering expanding the diversion […]
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 Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission asks as part of the process are out of bounds and any responses to those specific questions 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 getting a fair trial. “I’m not bitter, I’m better,” Glover, now 51 years old, says in an hour-long interview over Zoom. But talk to Glover […]
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 with a smaller footprint and a greater focus on rehabilitation. MCI-Framingham today “is oversized, physically outdated for its rehabilitative mission, and requires significant capital investment,” […]
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 jails. Following the Senate’s passage Thursday of a $5.07 billion general government bond bill, both branches have now approved versions of the legislation that also […]
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 settlement payments under a new agreement between their lawyers and Attorney General Maura Healey. Healey’s team and attorneys representing defendants whose convictions were based 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, a former Suffolk assistant DA who had been chairing the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board, to take her place. Earlier this week, the Globe reported […]