News and Action Alerts

MACDL joined CPCS in submitting an amicus brief authored by attorney K. Hayne Barnwell in the case of Wallace W. v. Commonwealth. In the court’s August 9, 2019 decision, it held that prosecutors must prove to a judge beyond a reasonable doubt that a juvenile has committed a prior offense before they can prosecute him for a subsequent misdemeanor charge. David […]

Willie J. Davis, a respected and dynamic long-time criminal defense attorney, passed away on June 19, 2019. He was a friend and colleague to many MACDL members and a deeply valued member of our legal community. As William M. White Jr. wrote in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Willie was a “true giant of the law.” As a criminal defense lawyer, “[h]e […]

The First Circuit has upheld the Massachusetts District Court’s denial of absolute immunity to a former Assistant Attorney General who withheld exculpatory evidence of a state lab worker’s drug use. In a § 1983 suit by a defendant who served more than five years before his conviction was dismissed following disclosure that Sonja Farak was addicted to drugs and tampering with samples during her employment as a drug […]

MACDL’s Legislative Committee co-chair, Austin Tzeng, wrote regarding proposed regulations for compassionate release that they are overly restrictive and unnecessarily burdensome. MACDL supports compassionate release and will continue to monitor regulatory developments. Read our letter below.

To view/download full text of the letter click the image below

MACDL has submitted a letter to members of the Massachusetts House and Senate Judiciary Committees, formally opposing H.66, “An Act to Protect the Commonwealth.” That proposed bill would vastly and unnecessarily expand G.L. c. 58A and other laws authorizing pretrial detention. As MACDL’s letter states, the legislation “would further unjustly incarcerate a disproportionate number of our citizens on a pretrial basis, without affording them an opportunity to post bail, […]