Sununu, Rivera vow to work together on drugs

Lawrence mayor says supply, demand must be addressed

By Compiled by CommonWealth criminal justice 0 Comments Mar 2, 2017

Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire and Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera talked by phone on Thursday after Sununu had claimed that most of the drugs flowing into the Granite State were coming from Lawrence. Below are the statements the two officials released following the phone call. Rivera’s statement, which includes a number of grammatical and(...)

Getting everyone on same team in Northampton

Chief Jody Kasper says police can’t be defensive anymore

By Linda Enerson criminal justice 0 Comments Mar 2, 2017

Jody Kasper, chief of the Northampton Police Department, is always looking for ways for her officers to better connect with the community they serve. She launched a program called High Five Fridays in December, where police officers would line the sidewalks leading to elementary schools in Northampton and high five students as they arrived for(...)

State leaders unveil bill aimed at cutting recidivism

Officials divided on further changes, Gants urges repeal of most mandatory minimums

By Michael Jonas 0 Comments Feb 21, 2017

STATE LEADERS UNVEILED long-awaited legislation Tuesday aimed at reducing recidivism rates in the criminal justice system. But whether the bill tackles the most pressing issue facing the system or simply marks a good first step in what should be a more sweeping reform process depends on which leader is speaking. That divide is likely to(...)

DA Conley pushes back against Gants

Defends mandatory minimums, questions chief justice’s aggressive politics

By Bruce Mohl criminal justice 0 Comments Feb 21, 2017

SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY DAN CONLEY on Tuesday pushed back against efforts by Chief Justice Ralph Gants and members of the Senate to do away with mandatory minimum sentences and give more discretion in handing out punishment to judges. In remarks during and after a panel discussion at a daylong conference on criminal justice reform(...)

Opinion

Brownsberger: Criminal justice reform top priority

To reduce crime, reduce incarceration rates

By William Brownsberger criminal justice 2 Comments Feb 21, 2017

MY ONGOING TOP PRIORITY as Senate Chair of the Judiciary Committee is criminal justice reform. The criminal justice system is filled with committed professionals – police, prosecutors, judges, and probation, parole and correctional officers. Most of the laws that govern the system made sense when they were enacted and are still individually defensible. Yet, taken(...)

Sentencing commission backs repeal of mandatory minimums

Votes add to push for more sweeping criminal justice reform

By Michael Jonas Charlie Baker, Criminal justice reform, Mandatory minimum sentences, Ralph Gants, Robert DeLeo, Stan Rosenberg 1 Comment Feb 20, 2017

IN ANOTHER SIGN of support for broad criminal justice reform, the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission voted to recommend abolition of mandatory minimum sentences for all crimes except murder. The move comes as state leaders are split on the best way to revamp criminal justice policies. At a Jan. 18 meeting of the sentencing commission, members voted(...)

Senators outline broad criminal justice reform agenda

Lawmakers look to broaden scope beyond pending report

By Michael Jonas 1 Comment Feb 16, 2017

SAYING THE TIME is right for the state to take a look at sweeping criminal justice reforms, a group of Democratic state senators is urging the Legislature to take up bills addressing everything from mandatory minimum drug sentences to fines and fees that lawmakers say are unfairly leading some people to spend time behind bars(...)

Is criminal justice reform misfiring?

By CommonWealth Staff Criminal justice reform 1 Comment Feb 6, 2017

This is the era of criminal justice reform. States across the country are reexamining criminal justice policies with an eye toward addressing the ignoble distinction the US holds of claiming astronomical incarceration rates far out of line with those in other developed countries. We even make repressive regimes like Russia and Cuba look like softies(...)

Opinion

Making addiction treatment work for inmates

Comprehensive approach needed for those in criminal justice system

By Warren J. Ferguson 0 Comments Jan 31, 2017

AS A PHYSICIAN, who treats and supports individuals battling substance abuse, I try to be available when the call for help comes, especially from those involved with the criminal justice system. The call for help from John, a former inmate who has struggled with addiction and cycled in and out of prison, arrived via text from an unrecognized number. He(...)

Hodgson proposal little more than self-promotion

Prisoners should not be treated as pawns

By Trevor Maloney Massachusetts politics 0 Comments Jan 9, 2017

I WAS DISGUSTED to learn of Bristol County’s Sheriff Thomas Hodgson’s proposal to send prisoners off to work on Trump’s wall. Of course, even if construction on the wall ever starts (which is doubtful), Hodgson’s plan will never come to fruition. His plan is logistically impossible, and he likely lacks the legal authority to send(...)


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Criminal Justice