IF MARA DOLAN were interviewing a judicial nominee, she would want to know three things: whether the person supports abortion rights, whether they understand substance use disorders, and whether they are anti-racist.
“Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe versus Wade, it’s essential that everyone working within the criminal justice system and in our court system is 100 percent pro-choice, because we have to protect reproductive rights at absolutely every single level,” Dolan said on The Codcast this week.
Dolan, a public defender who has also worked in Democratic politics, is the only candidate challenging an incumbent governor’s councilor this year. She is running in the September Democratic primary against Councilor Marilyn Devaney in District 3, which includes Dolan’s hometown of Concord and the surrounding west-of-Boston suburbs. Dolan argues that she would bring an important perspective to the council, which confirms judicial nominees, as a long-time public defender.
“The incumbent has been in for 23 years, and I don’t have a problem with that. But in those 23 years, she has not once done what I have done thousands of times, which is stand next to a defendant in a court of law as they face a judge,” Dolan said. “It is essential to the Governor’s Council that we have someone who’s working in our court system every day and understands the issues that we face there.”
Devaney has described herself as the only full-time governor’s councilor and says, because she is not a lawyer, she does not have a conflict of interest appearing before judges she voted to confirm.
Asked what, if any, litmus test she would apply to nominees, Dolan said she has three questions she will ask every nominee, the first being whether they support abortion rights. “I will be absolutely certain that any nominee is 100 percent pro-choice before I vote yes,” Dolan said, noting that under state law anyone age 15 or under seeking an abortion without a parent’s consent must get judicial approval.
Pressed on whether she would vote against confirming a religious Catholic nominee who personally opposes abortion, Dolan clarified, “No, the question is whether they will uphold the law.”
The second issue Dolan flagged is making sure judges understand substance use disorders and recovery. Today, she said, offenders may get taken into custody for a probation violation if they are in recovery while on probation, then relapse and use drugs or alcohol. “It is expensive, it doesn’t work, and it makes recovery harder. So we’ve got to make sure that all of our judges and our parole board members respect the science of addiction and are prepared to work to support recovery,” Dolan said. “To punish people for being in so much pain that they relapse is the absolute worst thing that we can do.”
Third, Dolan said, judges must recognize and commit to addressing racial disparities, with Black and Latino individuals overrepresented throughout the criminal justice system. “We have to make sure that all nominees are anti-racist, that they’re going to be able to identify racism when they see it, and they’re going to take affirmative steps to stop it,” Dolan said. She said that will involve looking at nominees’ awareness of racism and their history of what they have done to combat racism.
Dolan also talks on the campaign trail about ensuring judges understand the science showing that young adults’ brains are not fully formed until they are 25, which can affect decision-making. She said the court system needs to give young adults “as much support and understanding and compassion as we can,” which includes diverting youth out of the court system and not shaming them when they get into trouble. Particularly in Juvenile Court, she said, “You really need to make sure that you give them the message that you understand that they are children. They’re not being held to the same standards as adults.”
The Governor’s Council is typically a low-profile body, but it has made headlines in recent years, primarily for infighting and name-calling among its members. There have been calls to abolish the council altogether.
Dolan disagrees. “The fastest, most effective way to improve the Governor’s Council is to elect the best people to serve,” she said.
SHIRA SCHOENBERG
FROM COMMONWEALTH
Lawmakers releasing tax relief package: Top legislative leaders are unveiling a $500 million tax relief package that in many ways mirrors what Gov. Charlie Baker proposed in his budget proposal in January. Although details will be released later on Monday, lawmakers say their plan will include relief for seniors, parents with children, low-income residents, and also reform of the state’s estate tax. The one piece of the Baker tax relief package that is missing is a reduction in the short-term capital gains tax. Read more.
OPINION
Trojan horse: Consultant Martyn Roetter says the push by utilities to blend hydrogen into existing gas pipelines to fuel furnaces, stoves, and water heaters is a Trojan horse that will drive up costs, increase the risk of explosions, and pollute the air. Read more.
Lessons learned: John Aram says his experience as a legal resource volunteer with the ACLU of Massachusetts has shown him that civil rights gains cut two ways. Read more.
Prevention first: Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, says the best way to reduce health care costs is to invest in preventative initiatives that reduce the need for health care in the first place. Read more.
Forever chemicals: Firefighters Sean Mitchell, Paul Jacques, and Jason Burns sound the alarm about PFAS chemicals. Read more.
FROM AROUND THE WEB
BEACON HILL
Gun owners seek to loosen state gun laws in response to a recent US Supreme Court ruling. (Salem News)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Violence in Boston, the nonprofit founded by activist Monica Cannon-Grant, who is facing federal charges for misusing funds raised for the organization, is shutting down. (Boston Herald)
Boston shelled out $2.3 million over the last fiscal year to outside attorneys handling lawsuits the city was involved in. (Boston Herald)
Some Winthrop residents are upset that the town took no official actions to mark Juneteenth or Pride month in June. (Boston Globe)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
The state will dial back its COVID data reporting to a weekly summary. (Boston Globe) Which seems in keeping with this Washington Post story warning of the growing infection wave from the BA.5 variant with this pull-no-punches lead: “America has decided the pandemic is over. The coronavirus has other ideas.”
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
A trove of more than 124,000 documents, dubbed the “Uber Files,” obtained by The Guardian and shared with an international media consortium, shows the lengths the company went to in trying to curry favor with Putin’s Russia as part of expansion plans there and throughout Europe and other overseas markets. (Washington Post)
Ghana’s ambassador to the United States plans a three-day trip to Worcester. (Telegram & Gazette)
ELECTIONS
Just how bad are things for Joe Biden? A new poll finds that nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters would prefer a different presidential nominee to carry their party banner in the 2024 election. (New York Times)
Robyn Kennedy, chief operating officer of the YWCA in Worcester, resigns to run for state Senate from Worcester. (MassLive)
EDUCATION
The state’s larger school districts have so far spent, on average, less than a third of the $2.5 billion in federal COVID relief targeted to schools in Massachusetts. (Boston Globe)
ARTS/CULTURE
Springfield mural project revives historic advertisements. (MassLive)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Massachusetts farmers are struggling with this year’s drought. (MassLive)
Fishing for clams, oysters, and other shellfish is prohibited across the North Shore, due to an outbreak of the toxic Red Tide, which could make shellfish dangerous to eat. (MassLive)
For all of the ways Massachusetts leans green, we are one of the few states without an state climatologist – despite a 2014 move to establish such a position. (Boston Globe)
The fight to undam the Charles River comes to Natick. (GBH)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts releases a report containing interviews with 22 women incarcerated in Massachusetts who anonymously relate instances of sexual harassment and assault they have faced behind bars. (WBUR)
PASSINGS
Joseph Goulet, a Lawrence-born veteran who landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day, dies on July 4 at age 99. (Associated Press)
Auburn fire lieutenant Paul Wood, who worked in EMS and firefighting for two decades, dies at 42. (Telegram & Gazette)