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Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Judge could dismiss charges against more than 100 defendants without lawyers amid work stoppage
Advertisement However on Monday, the committee filed an emergency petition asking the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to order Juvenile Court judges in six counties to follow similar protocols and dismiss charges against juveniles who have gone too long without legal representation. There 'is an ongoing systemic violation of indigent [youths'] constitutional rights to effective assistance of counsel due to CPCS's incapacity to provide such assistance through its staff attorneys,' or through court-appointed bar advocates, the lawyers for the committee wrote. Attorney Shira Diner, former president of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, said the push to dismiss cases against juveniles and adults 'shows just how deep and severe this crisis is.' Advertisement At the heart of this crisis is the work stoppage 'We're going to have cases closed without resolution. I would urge everybody who cares about public safety to be in support of our bar advocates and help them get back to work,' Diner said. Governor Maura Healey told reporters last week that she would 'do everything I can to advocate for a swift resolution' to the work stoppage. She said bar advocates 'deserve to be paid a fair wage' and 'it's not a good situation where people don't have representation and are being released.' Last month, legislative leaders sliced a measure from their $61 billion budget plan that would have raised the pay for some, but not all, of the state's court-appointed attorneys. At the time, Senate President Karen E. Spilka said 'hard decisions had to be made,' but she looked forward to talking to bar advocates directly 'to hear what their issues are.' On Monday, James Borghesani, a spokesperson for Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden, said in a statement that prosecutors 'have done their utmost to oppose the release of serious offenders' since the work stoppage began. The 45-day mark, which triggers the court-ordered protocols requiring hearings, 'represents a significant escalation in the threat to public safety, with cases involving serious assaults, domestic violence and other high-level offenses up for potential dismissal,' Borghesani said. 'The danger is only going to expand and compound as the stoppage drags on and additional defendants are released.' Advertisement On July 3, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt had ordered Suffolk and Middlesex counties to follow what is known as the Lavallee Protocols in response to an earlier emergency petition filed by the public counsel committee. The agency represents about 20 percent of the state's indigent defendants and relies on some 2,500 bar advocates to take on remaining cases. Under the protocols, if defendants who can't afford to hire their own lawyers aren't appointed one as required by state law, then a judge should consider releasing them. State law generally requires defendants be provided a lawyer within an appropriate time. The courts have established that time to be seven days for those in custody and 45 days for anyone charged with a crime. In its latest emergency petition Monday, the public counsel committee said protocols should be expanded to include juveniles because the work stoppage was having a severe impact on them as well. As of Friday, there were 101 unrepresented children charged with crimes in the juvenile courts in Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Middlesex, Norfolk and Suffolk counties, according to the petition. One juvenile was being held in custody in Suffolk County while the charges are pending, and the rest were released. 'As in District Court, there is a chronic shortage of private counsel in juvenile courts across the Commonwealth which has been exacerbated by the work stoppage,' the petition says. 'Without a specific end date to the work stoppage combined with the ongoing counsel shortages in Juvenile Court, increasing numbers of children will face criminal charges and detention unrepresented.' Advertisement The petition says youths are afforded even more rights and privileges under the law than adults, including 'the opportunity to consult with an interested adult prior to any police interrogation,' making it critical that they immediately be appointed a lawyer once they are charged with a crime. Youths can also request that their cases be dismissed prior to arraignment, requiring a lawyer be retained before then. As such, the petition said requirements under the protocols should be even more stringent for juveniles than adults when it comes to lawyers. Youths may not be held for more than three days without counsel, the petition says, and charges should be dismissed if a lawyer does not file an appearance on behalf of a youth within 15 days of the youth's initial appearance in court. Also, according to the petition, no child may be placed in a diversion program prior to arraignment without consulting a lawyer about waiving their constitutional rights, which is required before entering such a program. The SJC has yet to rule on the petition. Shelley Murphy can be reached at
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Yahoo
Criminal defendants are being held without lawyers in Mass. as bar advocates refuse new cases
More than 50 people across Boston and neighboring Middlesex County are being held without a lawyer assigned to their case as bar advocates across Massachusetts continue to refuse to take on new cases, according to the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In a statement Monday evening, the association said the growing number of unrepresented people in Massachusetts, which it says has grown to exceed 240 in just Boston and Middlesex County, represents a crisis. As of last week, roughly 40 people in Boston were being held in custody without a lawyer, and more than 150 were unrepresented, the association said. In Middlesex County, which includes Cambridge, 16 people are being held without lawyers and 90 people accused of crimes are awaiting a court-appointed attorney, according to the statement. Read more: A right to an attorney? Court-appointed lawyers are refusing cases in Mass. over low pay It was not immediately clear what the statewide totals were, but the association indicated there are 'many others who remain locked in custody with no one as their voice.' The association's president, Shira Diner, said the numbers reflected a 'full-blown constitutional breakdown.' 'The right to counsel is not a luxury. It is a bedrock principle of our justice system, guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment and by Article 12 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights,' Diner said. 'When people are jailed without lawyers, the system ceases to be just — or constitutional.' Bar advocates are independent defense attorneys who represent those who can not afford lawyers. They are not part of the state's public defender agency, the Committee for Public Counsel Services. Those attorneys have been refusing to take on new cases amid a pay dispute. The association says bar advocates in Massachusetts are paid far less than those in neighboring states. 'The unsustainable pay structure has led to an exodus of experienced attorneys and an inability to recruit new ones — with the result that hundreds of accused individuals find themselves in legal limbo," the association wrote in a statement. Read more: Bar advocate revolt over low pay expected to balloon across the state Anyone in custody for more than seven days without representation can be released under state law. If a lawyer is not assigned in that timeframe, courts are either forced to violate a person's constitutional right to an attorney or release them without due process, the association said. 'People accused of crimes are sitting in jail cells without a lawyer,' Diner continued. 'Others are missing crucial opportunities to gather necessary evidence and are left with nothing but uncertainty.' A spokesperson for the trial courts said the state's court system has been 'in communication' with CPCS 'in an effort to reduce disruptions due to the work stoppage by Bar Advocates.' Bar advocates handle about 80% of criminal cases for defendants who can't afford attorneys in Massachusetts courts. Mass. weather: Central Mass. could see over 1 inch of rain on Tuesday Some Nantucket short-term rentals in jeopardy after land court decision Big Y plans changes to its Tower Square store Mass. labor groups rally against ICE arrest of California union leader Driver taken to hospital after truck crashes into telephone pole in Belchertown Read the original article on MassLive.
