Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins looking into third chemist at state drug lab
Investigators are looking into longtime state chemist Della Saunders, who analyzed tens of thousands of drug samples while working alongside disgraced chemist Annie Dookhan for about a decade
By Maggie Mulvihill and Dugan Arnett Globe correspondent and Globe Staff,Updated December 17, 2020, 10:29 a.m.
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Della Saunders, a Chemist who worked with Annie Dookhan, testified at Shawn Drumgold bench trial in 2012.The Boston Globe/Boston Globe
Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollinsâs office is examining the work of another chemist at a troubled state lab, raising the specter of additional misconduct that potentially widens what is already the largest crime lab scandal in US history.
December 15, 2020
BOSTON (AP) The highest court in Massachusetts on Tuesday struck down a state law making it illegal for people to ask for money for their own support on public roads.
A decision from the Supreme Judicial Court found that the law violated free speech rights because it prohibited people from requesting money for personal support on roadways but specifically allowed the sale of newspapers or event tickets.
The court concluded that asking motorists for personal donations “poses no greater threat to traffic safety than engaging in the same conduct for other” purposes that are permitted under the law.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts challenged the ordinance in a 2019 lawsuit accusing Fall River of aggressive enforcement. The group represented two homeless men who were accused of violating the law more than 40 times by Fall River police.
Massachusetts lawmakers pass policing reform bill to ban chokeholds and limit tear gas use
Lauren del Valle and Peter Nickeas, CNN
Updated 11:47 PM ET, Wed December 2, 2020 (CNN)Massachusetts state legislators passed a sweeping police reform bill Tuesday that amends use of force and training policies and tailors law enforcement legal protections.
The bill is the latest state-level effort to address the way police work, how they re governed and how they re investigated when accused of misconduct. Federal reform measures introduced in the US House and Senate in the wake of the killing of George Floyd both stalled this summer, and more than two dozen states have enacted changes of their own since May.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts challenged the ordinance in a 2019 lawsuit accusing Fall River of aggressive enforcement. The group represented two homeless men who were accused of violating the law more than 40 times by Fall River police.
Paul Coogan, the mayor of Fall River, said he supports the court s decision. Even before the ruling, the city had stopped enforcing the law, he said. We have to make sure in Massachusetts we treat all people and groups equally, and that s basically what the court said, Coogan said.
The ACLU of Massachusetts urged law enforcement agencies across the state to take heed of the decision.
Massachusetts governor won’t sign facial recognition ban
He argues technology is necessary for police work
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Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has refused to sign a law banning most government use of facial recognition.
The Boston Globe reported last week that Baker sent an omnibus police reform bill back to state lawmakers, asking for changes that included striking the facial recognition rules.
Massachusetts legislators passed the first major state-level facial recognition ban, following a model set by individual cities like Boston and San Francisco. The bill says public agencies, including police departments, can’t use or acquire biometric surveillance systems. It makes exceptions for running facial recognition searches against a motor vehicles registration database, as long as police obtain a warrant or demonstrate “immediate danger” that requires a search. It would help fill a gap left by federal lawmakers, who haven’t passed a nationwide framework f