Whats the OBrien Probation Trial About? | Create Infographics
Paul McMorrow
Paul McMorrow comes to CommonWealth from Banker & Tradesman, where he covered commercial real estate and development. He previously worked as a contributing editor to Boston magazine, where he covered local politics in print and online. He got his start at the Weekly Dig, where he worked as a staff writer, and later news and features editor. Paul writes a frequent column about real estate for the Boston Globe’s Op-Ed page, and is a regular contributor to BeerAdvocate magazine. His work has been recognized by the City and Regional Magazine Association, the New England Press Association, and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. He is a Boston University graduate and a lifelong New Englander.
Posted inPolitics, The Download
State House on trial
Every weekday, for the next month or two, former state Probation Department boss John O’Brien will walk into the federal courthouse in South Boston and listen as prosecutors try to send him to prison. There was a time not too long ago when it looked as if O’Brien would have the company of several Beacon […]
Posted inPolitics
Probation job was answer to woman’s pension play
When Patricia Mosca came knocking on Senate President Therese Murray’s door, Murray’s staffers knew what Mosca was after: a bump in her state pension. Murray’s office went along with the pension play, and helped Mosca land a job as a probation officer in a Plymouth courthouse. Afterward, Mosca was effusive in her thanks; she knew […]
Posted inPolitics
Probation defense: What did Judge Mulligan know?
Defense lawyers for former state Probation Department boss John O’Brien fought hard last week to bring patronage-laden court officer hirings into play at O’Brien’s federal corruption trial. On Monday, O’Brien’s defense began to put some of those trial court patronage jobs in play. In doing so, they began to lay the groundwork for what looks […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate President pushed Probation on son of judge
Senate President Therese Murray personally tracked the progress of a controversial patronage hire within the Probation Department, at one point leaving a handwritten note on a staffer’s desk, asking, “How are we doing on him?” The job-seeker Murray was asking about, Patrick Lawton, is the son of a politically connected Plymouth County family. According to […]
Posted inPolitics
Young reels in lawyers in probation case
The third day of the federal racketeering trial of former Probation Department boss John O’Brien opened with US District Court Judge William Young turning aside a bid by O’Brien’s lawyers to grill a former Probation official about the details of hiring after O’Brien’s tenure. It took pit stops in an effort by Sen. Marc Pacheco […]
Posted inPolitics
Walsh asserts casino double standard
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and a group opposed to casinos suggested on Friday that the proposed Mohegan Sun gambling facility is so intertwined with the Suffolk Downs race track straddling East Boston and Revere that residents of both communities should be allowed to decide whether the project should go forward or not. That’s exactly what […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Walsh at 101 days
Marty Walsh rang in his 101st day as mayor of Boston on Wednesday. As he stood at the front of an East Boston gymnasium, ticking off a laundry list of new initiatives his administration is pushing, Boston’s new mayor sounded a lot like its old mayor, Tom Menino. Walsh has set off a flurry of […]
Posted inPolitics
Threading the needle
In his second run for governor, Charlie Baker is focusing heavily on crossover issues that appeal to independents and Democrats. Charlie Baker bounds into the Charlestown Knights of Columbus, where the once and future savior of the Massachusetts Republican Party finds a hall stuffed full of shamrock balloons and voters clad in green sweaters. Baker […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Super PAC bill may be too late to cover governor’s race
The Massachusetts Legislature is likely to take up a campaign finance package that would impose stricter disclosure rules on super PACs soon, but the new regulations are unlikely to take effect before November’s gubernatorial contest. “We want to do a bill that addresses campaign finance, especially super PACs and dark money,” said Sen. Barry Finegold, […]