A MAN CONVICTED of arson nearly 40 years ago for burning down his vacation home in the Berkshires has been exonerated, due partly to anti-Semitic comments made by jurors in his case. Barry Jacobson, now 78, was convicted in a jury trial of setting fire in January 1982 to his home in the small Western […]
criminal justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
Public safety secretary responds to criminal justice reform concerns
AFTER THE CHAIRMAN of the House Judiciary Committee questioned Gov. Charlie Baker’s commitment to implementing the criminal justice and police reform laws, Baker officials defended their efforts in a detailed letter. House Judiciary Committee chairman Michael Day, a Stoneham Democrat, had written to Public Safety and Security Secretary Terrence Reidy last month identifying “disturbing instances […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC places safeguards on use of cellphone ‘tower dumps’
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT will allow the police to continue using “tower dumps,” requests for broad swaths of cellphone data, despite pleas from privacy activists to eliminate the practice. But the state’s highest court, in a unanimous 52-page ruling issued Friday, agreed with advocates that a “tower dump” is considered a seizure that intrudes on […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Judge open to religious discrimination claim on vaccine mandate
AFTER GOV. CHARLIE BAKER instituted an executive branch COVID-19 vaccine mandate, 156 State Police union members asked for religious exemptions. All of them were denied. In seven cases, however, the State Police determined that the officers had sincerely held religious beliefs that prevented them from getting vaccinated against COVID. Yet, the police denied their exemption […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Probate judge resigns in wake of SJC suspension
PROBATE AND FAMILY Court Judge Paul Sushchyk resigned on Monday, five days after the Supreme Judicial Court suspended him without pay for groping a court employee and lying about it. Sushchyk’s decision to resign eliminates the need for what could have been a drawn-out process of having the Legislature move forward with an impeachment trial […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Making sense of correctional spending
MASSACHUSETTS SPENDS MORE than $1 billion a year to incarcerate roughly 13,000 people in its state prisons and county houses of correction, but a lot of the details of that spending are shrouded in mystery and uncertainty. As part of the recent wave of attention to criminal justice reform, the Legislature recently formed a special […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Correction Department denies unsafe conditions at Bridgewater
THE MASSACHUSETTS Department of Correction is disputing the findings in a report that said the agency has refused to address pervasive mold and the potential for asbestos exposure at Bridgewater State Hospital. In fact, Correction Commissioner Carol Mici said, the agency has spent $1.7 million addressing the problems. The Disability Law Center, an independent organization […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Commission calls for limiting police use of facial recognition technology
A LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION is recommending strict new curbs on the use of facial recognition technology by the police, including requiring a warrant and limiting its use to investigating felony crimes. “Because the technology has advanced, I think there’s a growing awareness of how often mass surveillance exists…and wanting to make sure the government is providing […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
State correction officer charged with having sex with inmate
A FORMER state correction officer pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of having sexual relations with an inmate. Charlotte Ferro, who worked at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, was arraigned in Clinton District Court on one count of a prison guard having sexual relations with a prisoner. She pleaded not guilty and was released on […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A steep fall for Cannon-Grant
FOR MONICA CANNON-GRANT, the limelight has proved to be a decidedly double-edged sword. The long-time Black Boston activist rocketed to prominence amid the country’s racial reckoning of recent years. It was less than two years ago, in June 2020, that she led a massive march of thousands to Franklin Park to protest police violence in […]