In a national first, a close SJC ruling declared it unconstitutional to sentence anyone under the age of 21 to life without the possibility of parole.
Courts
Posted inCourts
SJC takes another swing at Uber ‘clickwrap’ contracts
Are the current “terms and conditions” details that ride-share passengers must agree to sufficient, or are they signing away certain legal rights without enough notice?
Posted inCourts
Healey’s SJC pick questioned about lack of judicial experience
“I would bring a lot of experience with the different courts of the Commonwealth, in a different way,” Bessie Dewar said.
Posted inCourts
State solicitor tapped as Healey’s first SJC pick
Gov. Maura Healey has picked Elizabeth “Bessie” Dewar, the state solicitor and a former US Supreme Court clerk, as her first nomination to the state Supreme Judicial Court.
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC weighs officer privacy against public records rights
The Supreme Judicial Court is wading into a drawn-out public records fight stemming from the Bristol County District Attorney’s refusal to release documents, recorded interviews, and the names of officers involved in the 2021 fatal shooting of 30-year-old Anthony Harden.
Posted inCourts
SJC Justice Lowy to leave bench, take post as UMass counsel
Supreme Judicial Court Justice David Lowy will leave the bench on February 3 – well before the required retirement age of 70 – to serve as general counsel of the University of Massachusetts system.
Posted inCourts
Switchblades in the SJC firing line
The state’s highest court is preparing to consider whether an absolute ban on carrying switchblade knives violates the Second Amendment.
Posted inBy The Numbers
Study finds Boston shoplifting rates up from pre-pandemic levels
With Black Friday signaling the arrival of the holiday shopping season, a new report says shoplifting rates in Boston are up compared to levels before the pandemic, though the city has avoided the spike in retail theft that several major US cities have experienced.
Posted inCourts
SJC prods Brookline’s ‘novel’ phased tobacco ban
The Supreme Judicial Court is weighing the legality of a Brookline ordinance that bans tobacco sales to anyone born in 2000 or later, a move that would eventually phase out all tobacco sales in the town.
Posted inEducation
SJC justices raise concerns about Tufts tenure tinkering
The Supreme Judicial Court hears arguments about a change to the tenure guidelines at Tufts School of Medicine that cuts salaries of those who fail to raise enough money to support their labs. Several justices seemed wary of the changes.