FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4/6/2018
Contact: Richard M Page Jr.
BBA/BBF Executive Director
617-778-1916
Legislature Passes Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform Package with Key BBA Recommendations
This week, the Massachusetts Legislature sent to
Governor Charlie Baker a comprehensive package
of criminal-justice measures that includes a host of recommendations made by the
Boston Bar Association’s (BBA’s) working
group
on the subject, including changes to keep people from being
unnecessarily swept into the justice system and to give those emerging from
incarceration a true second chance. The bills had nearly unanimous support
as they passed both houses and now sit on the desk of Governor Charlie
Baker.
“This legislation represents a major step toward a fairer
and more effective justice system, and I urge the Governor to sign it into law,”
said BBA President Mark Smith, of Laredo & Smith. “I also offer my
deep appreciation to the Legislature—in particular, Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senate
President Harriette Chandler, former Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, and the
Judiciary Committee co-chairs who drafted the final bill in conference, Senator
Will Brownsberger and Representative Claire Cronin.”
The conference
committee also included Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Stone Creem, who has been
advocating for comprehensive criminal-justice reform of this type throughout her
legislative career, Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, House Majority Leader
Ronald Mariano, and Rep. Sheila Harrington, the ranking minority member on the
House Judiciary Committee.
Among the proposals
from the BBA working group’s report, No
Time to Wait
, that made their way into the legislation are
provisions that would:
• repeal mandatory minimum sentences for
low-level, non-violent drug offenses,
• increase opportunities for
pre-trial diversion for more defendants,
• modernize cash bail and the
wide array of fees and fines, so that individuals are not incarcerated solely
for being poor, and
• reform the state’s criminal offender record (CORI)
laws to make it easier for people to move on after completing a
sentence.
“We may have a lower incarceration rate, in comparison to other
states, but for racial disparities in the criminal justice system we are near
the top,” said former BBA President Kathy Weinman, of Hogan Lovells, who
co-chaired the BBA’s working group. “If enacted, this bill promises to
reduce the excessive rates of incarceration for black and Latino residents and
gives all involved in the criminal legal system a better chance to rebuild their
lives in compliance with the law.”
The working group’s other
co-chair, BBA Treasurer Marty Murphy, of Foley Hoag, said, “This legislation
continues a positive recent trend, both in Massachusetts and nationwide, toward
reducing the negative impact of mandatory minimums, and away from the failed
harsh and counterproductive sentencing structures of the 1990s. The BBA
has for decades opposed mandatory minimum sentences for virtually all
offenses—and we will continue to do so—because they offer only one-size-fits-all
justice, strip judges of the discretion they need to make the punishment match
the offense, and aggravate pre-existing racial disparities.”
In addition, the bill creates a
stream-lined process for post-conviction relief for individuals who were
arrested and convicted of certain offenses while under the control of a
trafficker, which the BBA separately
endorsed
.
The Governor
has ten days from the delivery of the legislation to decide whether to sign it
into law, veto it, or send it back to the Legislature with recommended
changes.
The Boston Bar Association traces its origins to meetings convened by John Adams, who provided pro bono representation to the British soldiers prosecuted for the Boston Massacre and went on to become the nation’s second president. Its mission is to advance the highest standards of excellence for the legal profession, facilitate access to justice, serve the community at large and promote diversity and inclusion.