Massachusetts
Criminal defendants released from Massachusetts jail because of lawyer work stoppage
Four criminal defendants were released from jail on Monday in Boston because they have not had an attorney for more than seven days, the result of a defense attorney shortage and ongoing work stoppage.
The four defendants ordered released include two facing drug distribution charges, a man accused of choking his partner, and a man accused of receiving stolen property.
“I got arrested and I had no legal aid,” said Daishaun Lawrence, the first defendant released. He said he was confident he would have been released sooner if he had proper representation. “I was really, really frustrated because I lost a lot,” including his job at Target, he said.
Last week, the Supreme Judicial Court enacted what’s known as the Lavallee Protocol, which requires indigent criminal defendants to be released if they have not had an attorney for more than seven days. After 45 days, their cases can be dismissed without prejudice – meaning that charges could be refiled.
Why is there a work stoppage?
Why is this happening? Because of a work stoppage that started after Memorial Day by the majority of lawyers statewide who do court-appointed defense work.
Typically, full time public defenders cover about 20% of court appointed cases for indigent clients. The other 80% of cases are covered by bar advocates, who are private attorneys who take “duty days” to do court-appointed work outside of their typical private work.
These bar advocates have been on a grassroots work stoppage for roughly six weeks to protest low pay and a shortage of lawyers willing to do the work.
“This has clearly reached a critical stage. It’s reached an emergency stage,” said Elyse Hershon, a criminal defense attorney and bar advocate. “You know, we need to fix this in order to keep qualified lawyers in this industry in this practice, and then also to attract and recruit more.”
The work stoppage has put pressure on public defenders, who are now the only lawyers covering these cases. “It’s really awful for everybody,” said Rebecca Jacobstein of CPCS, the state’s public defender organization. “Our staff attorneys – they are working so hard.”
CPCS lawyers have been prioritizing the most serious and potentially dangerous cases for representation, resulting in cases like drug charges and other infractions considered “less serious” for defendants to potentially be released.
In several hearings Monday, Justice Tracy-Lee Lyons of Boston Municipal Court expressed frustration at lawyers being unable to find representation for indigent clients. “You’re reporting to the court that not one private counsel will take this case?” she asked. “That’s correct,” a CPCS representative replied.
These Lavallee hearings will continue for the foreseeable future, so long as defendants remain underrepresented. Hearings start in Middlesex County on Wednesday.
We’re still on the good side of the forecast today. We’ll see a good supply of sun to start, then the clouds will increase and a few showers will sink down from the north in the afternoon. We still manage to make it near 70. (Yay.)
Tomorrow’s high temperatures, however, comes after midnight tonight — before falling toward Saturday morning. If you think that’s confusing, try explaining the snow that’ll be flying in the higher elevations across New England (with solid accumulation above 4k feet).
Yes, the weather is upside down for late May.
We can blame an intense, compact upper-level pool of cold air that broke loose from a larger pool near the Arctic Circle days ago.
The pattern across North America has dropped it in our laps for a day, with cold, rainy, windy consequences.
Rain, wind and… snow?
This will be a sneaky storm. Early on, there might even be a calm, bright sky (very) early Saturday morning. Then the clouds move in and the wind intensifies from the northeast. Gust will briefly peak at 50+ along the coast (40+ inland).
Rain will mix with snow in northern New England, and perhaps in the highest elevations of southern New Hampshire and central Massachusetts.
This also depends on the intensity of the precipitation. Heavier bursts of rain can drag down colder air aloft, helping the snowflakes make it from cloud base to your home place (if you live above 1k feet).
Ironically, we’re not expecting a deluge from this storm. Most spots keep near a half inch, with higher amounts near an inch in northeast Mass./southern NH.
And then just like that, it’s over. The storm pulls away Saturday evening, the skies clear and we’re back to sun Sunday. Highs recover to near 70 with the slightest chance for a shower late day.
Better chances – and cooler temps – come both Monday and Tuesday.
Will summer ever take hold? We know from past years that June can really struggle. It appears that the start of the month may not live up to expectations. Although we are at least climbing back to the 80s late next week.
Have a good weekend.
The head of the Massachusetts State Police can’t be sued for an alleged program that secretly recorded officers’ phone conversations with civilians and used them to bring criminal charges, the First Circuit said Thursday.
A group of Massachusetts residents filed a putative class against against Superintendent Geoffrey Noble, as well as Motorola and other companies, over the secret recordings, which were used to propose criminal charges in at least 181 cases without prosecutors’ knowledge, the three judge panel said.
The opinion by Circuit Judge Seth Aframe said the residents, led by Jason Courtemanche, failed to show how they’d be directly …
Massachusetts families are spending 8% of their monthly income on health care, according to a new study. That puts the Bay State toward the higher end of the scale, coming in at No. 12 in the country.
The analysis from personal finance website WalletHub examined where people are spending the most and the least on health care.
Alaska was No. 1 in the U.S., spending over 10% of their income on health care. On the other end of the scale, Utah residents spend 5% of their income on health care.
“Sharp increases in health care costs in recent years have made it difficult for some people to seek essential care,” WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said. “Even in states with lower-than-average health care prices, residents’ incomes may not be enough to keep up with the cost, especially since virtually every part of Americans’ budgets have been impacted by inflation over the past few years.”
To determine how much families are spending, WalletHub analyzed the prices of five key health care components across all 50 states, then combined those costs and compared them with each state’s median household income.
Read more: 1 MA Town Among 250 Best Places To Live In US News Ranking
Massachusetts spends the most on health care compared to other states in the region, according to the study. Vermont is the next-highest state in the Northeast, ranking at No. 14 with residents spending 7.98% of their income on health care.
Here are the top 10 states where people are spending the most on health care:
- Alaska
- Oregon
- Maine
- Mississippi
- West Virginia
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Montana
- South Dakota
- Louisiana
Check out the full study at WalletHub.
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