Now we learn that Inspector General Glen Cuhna, who once seemed ready to pin a massive state drug lab scandal on a lone chemist, Annie Dookhan, actually referred four other lab workers for prosecution. Interesting. Still, counting the number of “bad apples” shouldn’t distract us from the reality that the Massachusetts lab scandals were not the work of […]
criminal justice
Posted inOpinion
I saw parallels to Clancy case as a juvenile court judge
THE TRAGIC DEATH of the beautiful Clancy children may portend a long overdue indictment of the cavalier use of powerful psychotropic medications over non-pharmacological methods of treatment for those suffering from mental illness. For decades in Massachusetts, the reckless indifference of prescribing psychiatrists and other providers has caused lasting and harmful consequences for so many […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Campbell takes office guided by personal experiences
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN A CEREMONY focused on the historic “firsts” of Andrea Campbell’s inauguration as Massachusetts’ first Black woman elected to be attorney general — and the family and community who helped her get there — the newly sworn-in top law enforcement official promised to hold those in power accountable and to bring […]
Posted inThe Download
Lawsuit alleges racial discrimination in tenant screening tool
Two Black women from Massachusetts are at the center of what could become a landmark federal case about whether software that screens potential tenants is illegally biased against Black and Hispanic applicants. Rachael Rollins, the US attorney for Massachusetts, weighed in on the case, Louis vs. SafeRent Solutions, in a court brief this week, arguing […]
Posted inCourts, Opinion
SJC backslides on racial disparities in policing
IN A DECISION issued last week, the Supreme Judicial Court acquiesced in the disproportionate stopping and frisking of young people of color in the Commonwealth by upholding a police officer’s reliance for the intrusion on a juvenile’s “blading.” This amorphous amalgam of vague body movements and racially applied factors is so ambiguous that the SJC […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care, Opinion
Medicaid should cover the incarcerated
THERE IS AN UNSPOKEN and growing public health crisis in our country. For millions of Americans with serious health care needs, their treatment is not being provided at a hospital or clinic, but at the county jail. Many outside of this field do not know that the social determinants of becoming involved in the justice […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Berkshire County study tracks use of plea deals
AN UNPRECEDENTED look into how criminal cases get disposed of in Berkshire County reveals a trove of data, shedding a light on racial disparities, disparities based on lawyer type, and the impact of mandatory minimum sentences on plea deals, among other issues. Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington, who finishes her term in office next month, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DOC accepts sweeping settlement on mental health care for prisoners
THE MASSACHUSETTS Department of Correction will have to completely transform the mental health care it provides to inmates, under a settlement the department reached with the US Department of Justice on Tuesday. More than two years ago, the Justice Department issued a scathing report finding that the Department of Correction violated its constitutional obligations by […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
CLT chief accuses Baker of cowardice on Amirault pardons
THE RETIRING executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation on Thursday accused Gov. Charlie Baker of cowardice in withdrawing his bid to pardon Gerald Amirault and Cheryl Amirault LeFave, who were convicted in a high-profile child sexual abuse case at the Fells Acre Day Care Center in Malden in 1984. Baker on November 18 sought […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Governor’s Councilors skeptical of Amirault pardons
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER recommended pardoning Gerald Amirault and Cheryl Amirault Lefave, who were convicted in a high-profile child sexual abuse case. But members of the Governor’s Council on Tuesday suggested that their approval is far from a done deal. Amirault and Lefave were convicted of sexually abusing children at Fells Acres Day Care Center in Malden in […]