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Lifer's Group, MA, How the Massachusetts DOC Caused COVID-19 to Ravage State Prisons, 2021

Publication • 2021

Filed under: COVID-19

Lifer's Group, MA, How the Massachusetts DOC Caused COVID-19 to Ravage State Prisons, 2021 WITHOUT A RATIONAL PLAN: How and Why the Massachusetts DOC Caused Covid-19 To Ravage State Prisons A Lifers' Group Reoort • I Prepared by Dirk Greineder, MD, PhD February 2021 Lifers' Group Inc. MCI-Norfolk P.O. :Rox …

Massachusetts Dept of Corrections, MA, Exploring Alternatives to Restrictive Housing, 2021

Publication • 2021

Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Massachusetts Dept of Corrections, MA, Exploring Alternatives to Restrictive Housing, 2021 Elevating the System: Exploring Alternatives to Restrictive Housing Restrictive Housing Systems Study, Program Validation and Best Practice Recommendations Submitted March 2021 Independent Report Commissioned by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (MADOC) CONTENTS 3 4 7 9 11 14 20 …

News in Brief

Article • May 15, 2021 • from CLN June, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: On March 12, 2021, federal prosecutors in California unsealed indictments against a pair of policemen accused of pocketing cash and drugs confiscated from suspects they pulled over in traffic stops. According to a report by Law & Crime, former Rohnert Park Police Department officers Brendon …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Invalidates Parole Regulation Prohibiting Aggregation of Life Sentences With Consecutive Sentences

Article • May 15, 2021 • from CLN June, 2021

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Invalidates Parole Regulation Prohibiting Aggregation of Life Sentences With Consecutive Sentences by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that 120 Code Mass. Regs. § 200.08(3)(c) (2017), a regulation promulgated by the Massachusetts Parole Board, is invalid because it “is contrary …

Massachusetts Worst in Nation for Civil Forfeiture Laws

Article • March 27, 2021

Filed under: Forfeiture

Massachusetts Worst in Nation for Civil Forfeiture Laws by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell The Institute for Justice announced in its latest Policy for Profit report that Massachusetts was the only state in the country to earn an “F” because of its unfair civil forfeiture laws. One reason is that …

Massachusetts Supreme Court Announces ‘Habitual Offender’ Statute Allows for Sentence of Probation Only

Article • March 15, 2021 • from CLN April, 2021

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Sentencing Goals/Purposes/Practices, Sentence of Probation

Massachusetts Supreme Court Announces ‘Habitual Offender’ Statute Allows for Sentence of Probation Only by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell Because the law ambiguously provides that a court must impose the “maximum term” for a prison sentence for someone convicted as a “habitual criminal,” the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, applying the …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Blood Alcohol Test Results From Blood Drawn Under Court Order but Without Consent Is Inadmissible

Article • February 15, 2021 • from CLN March, 2021

Filed under: Involuntary, Blood Samples/Tests, Illegal Search

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Blood Alcohol Test Results From Blood Drawn Under Court Order but Without Consent Is Inadmissible by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that consent to testing and analysis is required for the results of a blood alcohol test to …

A 22-Year-Long Path to Justice

Article • February 15, 2021 • from CLN March, 2021

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, TV/Movies

A 22-Year-Long Path to Justice by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins In October 1993, 19-year-old Sean Ellis was arrested by Boston police for the murder of Detective John Mulligan. For more than 22 years after that day, Ellis fought his subsequent conviction, continually professed his innocence, and brought much-needed attention …

News in Brief

Article • January 15, 2021 • from CLN February, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: The family of 40-year-old Ryan Whitaker, who was fatally shot in the back by a police officer investigating a noise complaint, settled in December 2020 with the city of Phoenix for $3 million by unanimous City Council vote. Whitaker was shot in the doorway of …

Massachusetts Supreme Court Announces Requirement Prosecution Prove Defendant Knew Firearm Was Loaded Applies Retroactively

Article • January 15, 2021 • from CLN February, 2021

Filed under: Possession or Use of Firearms, Firearms, Constructive/Imputed/Presumed knowledge

Massachusetts Supreme Court Announces Requirement Prosecution Prove Defendant Knew Firearm Was Loaded Applies Retroactively by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (“SJC”) concluded that the holding in Commonwealth v. Brown, 479 Mass. 600 (2018), which requires the Commonwealth to prove that a defendant knew a …

News in Brief

Article • December 15, 2020 • from CLN January, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alaska: A plan to shift the response to mental health crises away from police and into the hands of mental health professionals made strides in November 2020. The Assembly approved money to launch a mobile crisis intervention team. In Anchorage, it would operate at the fire …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Use of Pole Cameras for Extended Surveillance of Residence Constitutes Search Under State Law

Article • December 15, 2020 • from CLN January, 2021

Filed under: Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Unlawful Entry/Conduct

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Use of Pole Cameras for Extended Surveillance of Residence Constitutes Search Under State Law by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) of Massachusetts announced that continuous, long-term pole camera surveillance targeting a residence is a search under article 14 of the …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Vacates Guilty Plea Conditioned on Waiving Right to Pursue Claim Racial Bias Infected Jury Deliberations

Article • December 15, 2020 • from CLN January, 2021

Filed under: Racial Bias Exception, Dysfunctional Jury, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Vacates Guilty Plea Conditioned on Waiving Right to Pursue Claim Racial Bias Infected Jury Deliberations by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts vacated a defendant’s guilty plea to a sentencing enhancement as involuntarily entered. In doing so, the Court held …

Massachusetts Supreme Court: Brady Requires Disclosure of Exculpatory Material Revealed During Immunized Testimony Before Grand Jury

Article • November 15, 2020 • from CLN December, 2020

Filed under: Excessive Force (Police), Brady Violations, Evidence - Failure to Disclose

Massachusetts Supreme Court: Brady Requires Disclosure of Exculpatory Material Revealed During Immunized Testimony Before Grand Jury by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed an order of a trial judge requiring a district attorney to disclose to defense attorneys details of misconduct by two police …

Civic Responses to Police Violence - Harvard University 2020

Publication • October 29, 2020

Filed under: Excessive Force (Police)

Civic Responses to Police Violence - Harvard University 2020 Civic Responses to Police Violence∗ Desmond Ang† Harvard University Jonathan Tebes‡ Harvard University October 29, 2020 Abstract Roughly a thousand people are killed by American law enforcement officers each year, accounting for more than 5% of all homicides. We estimate the …

DOJ Report: Massachusetts Narcotics Bureau Relied on Excessive Use of Force

Article • October 15, 2020 • from CLN November, 2020

Filed under: Excessive Force (Police), Reporting Requirements, Pattern of Improper Conduct

DOJ Report: Massachusetts Narcotics Bureau Relied on Excessive Use of Force by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The Narcotics Bureau (“NB”) of the Springfield Police Department (“SPD”) regularly used excessive force in the commission of its duties, covering its violations through deficiencies in its use of force reporting system. That’s …

News in Brief

Article • September 15, 2020 • from CLN October, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: Marissa Cruz and Paea Tukuafu filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of San Jose police in August 2020, claiming they were “battered and bruised” by cops and subject to unreasonable search and entry. The two were celebrating ahead of Cruz’s 22nd birthday at …

Slew of Civil Rights Advocates File Amicus Briefs Urging First Circuit to Require Warrants for Searches of Devices at Border

Article • September 2, 2020

Filed under: Briefs, Electronically Stored Information, Immigration Detention

Slew of Civil Rights Advocates File Amicus Briefs Urging First Circuit to Require Warrants for Searches of Devices at Border by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell Several amicus briefs on behalf of dozens of civil rights groups and First Amendment scholars were filed in an appeal in the U.S. Court …

Extending the Surveillance State During the Pandemic

Article • August 15, 2020 • from CLN September, 2020

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, COVID-19, Police State-Surveillance, Warrantless Searches

Extending the Surveillance State During the Pandemic by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso Police departments are using the coronavirus pandemic to expand their use of surveillance tools in the name of public health and safety. Privacy advocates are concerned about the encroachment of the carceral state on civil liberties, …

News in Brief

Article • July 15, 2020 • from CLN August, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: A series of racist and anti-Muslim posts on social media allegedly has ties to a private group of active and retired San Jose Police officers calling themselves 10-7ODSJ, a reference to the police code for “off duty,” mercurynews.com reports. In June 2020, four of them …