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 […]
Courts
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 inCourts
SJC rejects Galvin interpretation in DiMasi lobbying case
THE LAW MEANS what it says. That’s the gist of a Supreme Judicial Court ruling Thursday that a law barring anyone convicted of a set of state corruption charges from working as a lobbyist on Beacon Hill for 10 years does not apply to similar federal convictions — and therefore did not bar former House speaker […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Healey’s office asks SJC to reinstate charges in Soldiers’ Home deaths
MISMANAGEMENT AT THE Holyoke Soldiers’ Home undoubtedly contributed to the high COVID-19 death toll there in the first days of the pandemic. The question before the state’s highest court is whether the actions of the home’s former leaders may have constituted criminal behavior. During oral arguments on Wednesday, Supreme Judicial Court justices asked pointed questions […]
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
Governor’s councilors seem supportive of Jubinville nomination
THE GOVERNOR’S COUNCIL on Wednesday considered one of their own – Councilor Robert Jubinville – as a nominee for a clerk magistrate’s job. The half-hour hearing was mainly a lovefest, although one councilor, Marilyn Devaney, raised concerns about the apparent conflict of interest posed by Jubinville’s nomination. Councilor Chris Iannella, who chaired the hearing, echoed the […]
Posted inCourts, Health, Health Care
SJC rules physician-assisted suicide is illegal
THE MASSACHUSETTS CONSTITUTION does not protect a right to physician-assisted suicide, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday, leaving it up to the Legislature to decide a controversial end-of-life issue that has spawned more than a decade of impassioned debate and years of litigation. “Although we recognize the paramount importance and profound significance of all […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker withdraws Amirault pardon recommendations
IN A STUNNING REVERSAL of a controversial policy recommendation, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday withdrew his recommendation to pardon Gerald Amirault and Cheryl Amirault LeFave, who were convicted in a high-profile child sexual abuse case in the 1980s. “Following yesterday’s hearing, it is apparent that there are not sufficient votes from the Governor’s Council to […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Breathalyzer scandal could reopen 27,000 drunk driving cases
IN A CASE that has echoes of the notorious drug lab scandals, the state’s highest court will consider whether to make up to 27,000 defendants in drunk driving cases eligible for new trials because of problems with the state’s use of breathalyzer tests. The Supreme Judicial Court is scheduled to hear arguments December 7 in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Urine trouble, said prosecutors. SJC flushes charges.
YOU DON’T NEED a good-manners manual to know that relieving yourself all over the floor is a breach of basic decorum, decency, and hygiene. But it’s apparently not criminal. At least not under the terms of an 1851 statute. That is the upshot of a Supreme Judicial Court decision issued on Tuesday in which the […]