Criminal Justice

US attorney threatens state’s pot industry

US attorney threatens state’s pot industry

New stance indicates no one is immune from prosecution

By , , , , , , 0 Comments

US ATTORNEY ANDREW LELLING has sent a chilling response to calls from pro-pot advocates to clarify his stance on marijuana prosecution in Massachusetts, a message sure to send potential investors and business people into a state of panic over whether they would be subject to arrest and prosecution under federal drug laws. “This is a(...)

Read More »

Confusion reigns in states with legal pot

Confusion reigns in states with legal pot

More questions, fewer answers on how US attorneys will enforce federal drug laws

By , , , , , , 1 Comment

THE ONE THING that is certain with the change in enforcement of federal marijuana laws is that there will be no uniform approach to enforcement by US attorneys in states that have legalized the sale of recreational marijuana. Public comments and statements from some of the 12 US attorneys in the eight states that have(...)

Read More »

Sessions turns back pot clock

Sessions turns back pot clock

AG rescinds Obama-era guidance allowing states to legalize marijuana

By , , , , , , 0 Comments

ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS has thrown the emerging legal marijuana industry into turmoil by rescinding an Obama-era memorandum that ordered the Justice Department to ignore enforcing federal drug laws in states that allowed adult use. Sessions, a longtime opponent of legalizing marijuana who often tied it to the opioid crisis, issued a new guidance that(...)

Read More »

US Atty: Joyce ran office as ‘criminal enterprise’

US Atty: Joyce ran office as ‘criminal enterprise’

Former lawmaker accused of peddling influence for cash

By 0 Comments

FORMER STATE SEN. BRIAN JOYCE was arrested Friday and indicted for engaging in multiple influence-peddling schemes which netted him up to $1 million in fees that he went to elaborate lengths to conceal. FBI officials, who have been investigating Joyce for two years, said they arrested the former lawmaker before dawn at his home in(...)

Read More »

A new social contract on public safety

Opinion

A new social contract on public safety

Criminal justice reform can strike the right balance

By 0 Comments

THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE recently passed a comprehensive criminal justice reform bill. It aims to improve public safety while reducing the size and cost of the prison system. More importantly, the bill is an opportunity for a new social contract related to public safety. In 2014, I started a program in Pittsfield working with youth at(...)

Read More »

Debating immigration policy on Beacon Hill

Opinion

Debating immigration policy on Beacon Hill

Lawmakers should reverse course on Republican amendment to criminal justice bill

By 0 Comments

IMMIGRATION REFORM isn’t part of the criminal justice reform bill House members will begin debating today, but Republican lawmakers want it to be. Maybe they’re right and it should be — but the Legislature should instead move in the opposite direction of the harmful plan that Republican amendments are proposing. Last week, Siham Byah, a(...)

Read More »

A Rikers view of criminal justice reform

Opinion

A Rikers view of criminal justice reform

Race, economics, and politics played key roles in incarceration policies

By , 0 Comments

I LEFT MY HOMETOWN of Boston three years ago to find myself inside Rikers Island. What I witnessed inside that most infamous jail complex would become my education on the system of incarceration and the staining effects it has on people caught between crime and justice. In 2014, I was appointed a deputy commissioner at(...)

Read More »

House pushes narrower criminal justice legislation

House pushes narrower criminal justice legislation

Ex-SJC chief Ireland hails 'reform bill for real world'

By and , 0 Comments

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE plans to consider substantial changes to the way justice is delivered, with a powerful committee polling members Monday on legislation to repeal certain mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes, grant people additional opportunities to clear their records, and crack down on chronic drunk drivers. The House plans to(...)

Read More »

Brockton candidate already a winner

Brockton candidate already a winner

Longshot mayoral challenger overcame a hard start in life

By , , , 0 Comments

WITH MAYORAL RACES in the gun lap around the state, most eyes are on what’s happening in Boston and then maybe on Lawrence and Framingham or Newton. But little attention has been paid to the race in Brockton, where incumbent Mayor Bill Carpenter is challenged by 26-year-old Jimmy Pereira, one of the more unlikely and(...)

Read More »

House criminal justice bill seen taking up broad reform

House criminal justice bill seen taking up broad reform

Rushing says bill likely to tackle many areas of the system

By , 0 Comments

A KEY HOUSE LEADER signaled that his chamber is likely to respond to a sweeping Senate criminal justice bill with legislation that tackles many of the issues in the Senate measure that reform advocates have been pushing. Advocates for criminal justice reform have been pressing House officials to follow the Senate’s lead, and Assistant House(...)

Read More »

|<< 3 4 5 6 7 >>|