IT’S NOT AS IF the Massachusetts State Police were on a particularly great run already. The department has been hit by one scandal after another, mostly centered on overtime fraud and other charges that don’t exactly cast troopers in the best public-service light. Now, with public and private sector employers trying to figure out the […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
William Allen’s case for commutation
WHEN COVID-19 broke out at the Old Colony Correctional Center where William Allen was incarcerated, the immunocompromised prisoner in his 40s volunteered to clean the showers on the COVID unit because someone had to do it. “When he sees something needs to be done, he steps up and does it,” said Peg Newman, a former prison chaplain who […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Nangle gets 15 months in prison
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A FEDERAL JUDGE sentenced former Rep. David Nangle to 15 months in prison on Wednesday after the Lowell Democrat pleaded guilty earlier this year to illegally using campaign funds to fund a lifestyle that included golf club memberships and casino trips to Connecticut, and lying to banks about his debt to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
As sentencing approaches, 2 sides of Nangle emerge
IS FORMER STATE Rep. David Nangle a corrupt politician and expert at the legislative quid pro quo, or is he a compassionate, caring man felled by an addiction to gambling? Sentencing memos written by prosecutors and defense attorneys paint starkly different portraits of the Lowell Democrat, who is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday by US District Court Judge […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC sets limits on use of police body camera footage
AS THE MASSACHUSETTS Legislature continues to study how to regulate police-worn body cameras, the Supreme Judicial Court on Friday established legal limits on how body camera footage can be used. The court found that a police officer may record a police response in someone’s home using a body camera. But the police cannot then use […]
Posted inOpinion
A public safety agenda for the next mayor
THE BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT is currently facing a paradox. On the one hand, many in the police department view the agency as a national model for future policing. On the other hand, many in the community believe the department is in need of reform because of outdated policing strategies that lack accountability and transparency like […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC urged to reduce prison population during COVID
THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION is not doing enough to prevent the spread of COVID-19 because it has failed to take meaningful steps to reduce its prison population, prisoners’ rights advocates are charging in a case currently before the Supreme Judicial Court. The department counters that it has done everything possible to stop the virus’s spread […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Department of Correction finally hires ombudsman
AFTER A DELAY of several months, the Department of Correction has entered into a contract with the University of Massachusetts Medical School to create an ombudsman’s office within the department. But critics – including prisoners’ rights advocates and some lawmakers – are raising concerns about the appointment process and worry that the ombudsman’s office will […]
Posted inOpinion
Witnessing history at the Sirhan parole hearing
THE 1960s marked a profound change in the American psyche. Gone was the optimism of the post-World War II era as Americans began to embrace a profound distrust of their political and government systems. It was a decade marred by civil unrest and punctuated by three high profile political assassinations: that of President John F. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
RFK assassin’s parole recommendation ignites passions in divided family
MOST OF THOSE with first-hand memories of his assassination have probably reached initial eligibility for Social Security. But 53 years after Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down in a Los Angeles hotel, his murder is back in the news — and it is putting a fresh spotlight on divisions in a family that has repeatedly […]