Supreme Judicial Court acts to free criminal defendants amid pandemic crisis

Some criminal defendants who are being held on bail awaiting trial for nonviolent crimes can be freed, the state’s Supreme Judicial Court said in a mixed ruling that law-and-order tough DAs cheered as appropriately measured while prisoner advocates said it should have gone further.

Justice Frank Gaziano wrote the opinion for the SJC, ordering that many pretrial detainees have the right to have a bail hearing within two days of any request for one — and that suspected criminals should be released on their own recognizance unless prosecutors establish a good reason to keep them confined behind bars as the global pandemic’s Massachusetts peak approaches.

“We agree that the situation is urgent and unprecedented, and that a reduction in the number of people who are held in custody is necessary,” Gaziano wrote. “We also agree with the Attorney General and the district attorneys that the process of reduction requires individualized determinations, on an expedited basis, and, in order to achieve the fastest possible reduction, should focus first on those who are detained pretrial who have not been charged with committing violent crimes.”

The SJC laid out a list of crimes that are excluded from the special release terms, including all violent crimes, domestic violence, sexual assaults, major firearms violations and witness intimidation.

A spokesman for Gov. Charlie Baker’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security said, “The administration is pleased with the court’s ruling that individuals serving sentences should not be automatically released back into the community. For those awaiting trial, the administration believes the question of release should be decided on a case-by-case basis, with the most dangerous individuals remaining in custody.”

Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe, a critic of the push to free large numbers of inmates from jail, said the justices’ decision is a “significant victory.”

“They recognized their own limitations, particularly in terms of people who have been sentenced,” O’Keefe told the Herald. “They realized they really shouldn’t be trying to torture the law to effect the release of those people.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, the Committee for Public Counsel Services and the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense brought the case, looking for much more, including the wide-scale release of many convicted criminals from jail.

Matthew Segal of the ACLU of Massachusetts said, “We are glad that this decision affords some relief for pretrial detainees, as well as important reporting requirements. But we believe it falls short of what is necessary to prevent more illness and death among people in custody, correctional staff members, and the broader community.”

It’s unclear how many defendants and inmates the ruling applies to. The SJC is requesting those numbers from every county, as well as the total inmate population and the number of inmates and guards who have tested positive for COVID-19 in correctional facilities. The county sheriffs, who run the jails, will now have to provide the SJC a daily census of all pretrial detainees and what they’re charged with.

Attorney Wendy Murphy, a victims’ rights advocate, said, “It’s also a public health issue to release dangerous criminals to the public.”

She added, “We know that in many many cases criminals are changed with much lesser offenses than what they actually did — especially in matters of violence against women and children.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2xINEXM