In my previous post, I explained the Massachusetts SJC’s ruling last week on the contretemps surrounding the question of whether or not the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct can allowably inquire into a judge’s reasons for his or her rulings. The issue arose because the Judicial Conduct Commission had launched…
Sorry I’ve been absent for a little while. With the summer waning and the heat still high, I took a few days off for the beach. OK, back to work: The Supreme Judicial Court’s (SJC) ruling is finally in on the dispute surrounding the subject of whether the Massachusetts Commission…
By now, most people know that Governor Deval Patrick has agreed to sign the “Three Strikes” crime bill that the Legislature originally delivered to him last week. He had sent the bill back to the Legislature with an amendment to provide judicial discretion in sentencing certain habitual offenders who have…
In my profession as a Norfolk County criminal defense lawyer, there are times when someone I am representing – the defendant – under my advisement, will enter a plea of “Admission to Sufficient Facts.” Since most people do not know what this means, here is a brief overview. When a…
In a stunning reversal of the way that things have been done in our legal system in the past, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court now has two words for defendants who “claim” to be indigent, and need a free, court-appointed lawyer: “Prove it.” That’s right. You see, prior to this…
Previously in this blog, I’ve written about Secure Communities, the information-sharing program developed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Secure Communities allows local police and FBI personnel to share fingerprint and other identifying information on on someone who is arrested with…
There’s a general consensus that our current crime laws are not current at all. That’s certainly the belief of State Representative John H. Rogers of Norwood, who has recently demanded that the Massachusetts House of Representatives pass a crime reform bill. This bill is meant to update and reform existing…
In the sad and messy wake of former Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi’s suicide death after his roommate Dharun Ravi, surreptitiously videotaped a sexual encounter between Clementi and another man, a more local twist on this type of case has cropped up in Boston. Thankfully, this case does not involve…
First, let me say that there hasn’t been a post here in a while, and I’m sorry about that. December saw me distracted with an extremely busy combination of court appearances, trials, and a vacation beginning December 20 – all of which caused me to be extremely busy. However, there…
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS,) in its understandable efforts to rid our cities and communities of immigrants who have committed violent crimes, has developed an interactive cross-referencing program with local police and law enforcement departments, known as the Secure Communities Program. The program is administered and enforced by…