Boston Globe editorial, fully headlined State parole board, clemency process need reform: The Massachusetts Bar Association makes the case for more ‘justice’ at the end of the criminal justice pipeline, I saw that the Bay State s bar association issues an interesting new report on clemency last month. Here are some of the basics via the start of the editorial:
A good deal of attention has focused this past year on policing the input part of the criminal justice process but what about the other end of that pipeline? What about those already caught up in the system but looking for clemency as a way out of a long and often unjust sentence?
The working group s guide has suggestions for how District Attorney s offices could handle complaints and ensure past convictions are correct. (Getty Images)
What happens when there s a complaint of a wrongful conviction? If there is a miscarriage of justice, how do prosecutors prevent it from happening again?
Many district attorney s offices in Massachusetts have various ways of handling complaints and ensuring past convictions are correct. However, a new guide from a group that has been looking into these questions has put out a series of recommendations to improve and streamline the process.
The main recommendation is that every prosecutor s office should have an independent unit to review claims of wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice.
When someone is wrongfully convicted of a crime in the commonwealth, there is no formal system in place to review how it happened, or how to prevent it from happening again.
Now, a group of legal experts and activists affiliated with the Massachusetts Bar Association has created a new guide to help prosecutors correct and learn from errors in the criminal justice system, in what they say is an effort to rebuild trust with the public.
This guide encourages prosecutors to devote resources to so-called conviction integrity units, which would review claims of miscarriages of justice and other flaws.
WBUR senior correspondent Deborah Becker speaks with Consider This co-host Paris Alston.
By WHAV Staff |
Staff of the law firm Kazarosian Costello. (Courtesy photograph.)
The Massachusetts Bar Association is applauding the appointment of Haverhill attorney Marsha V. Kazarosian to the state’s new Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission., saying she brings “much-needed perspective.”
As WHAV reported first Friday, Kazarosian is one of several appointments required of Attorney General Maura Healey to the Commission. The board will create a police officer certification system and processes for decertification, suspension of certification or reprimand in the event of certain misconduct. The law came in response to reform demands in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death while in police custody in Minneapolis.
State parole board, clemency process need reform
The Massachusetts Bar Association makes the case for more âjusticeâ at the end of the criminal justice pipeline.
By The Editorial BoardUpdated April 5, 2021, 2 hours ago
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A report from the MBA urges Governor Charlie Baker to adopt new guidelines that would prioritize clemency for victims of domestic violence, those convicted at a very young age, and those who are now elderly, frail, or chronically ill.Erin Clark/Globe Staff
A good deal of attention has focused this past year on policing â the input part of the criminal justice process â but what about the other end of that pipeline? What about those already caught up in the system but looking for clemency as a way out of a long and often unjust sentence?