News

Massachusetts lawmakers pass bill that includes pay raise for public defenders amid legal crisis
Massachusetts lawmakers passed a funding bill that includes a pay raise for public defenders as part of an effort to end a ...
WBUR1d
Lawmakers outline plan to raise bar advocate wages, hire more public defenders
So-called "bar advocates"  — private attorneys who take on the criminal cases of indigent defendants — have stopped accepting ...
In Massachusetts, a Work Stoppage Forces Judges to Dismiss Criminal Cases
Seeking higher pay, lawyers for indigent defendants won’t take new clients. As a result, judges must dismiss cases against ...
Is it time for Massachusetts to hire more public defenders?
As the courts are ground to a halt with a work stoppage, is it time for the state to change its public defender system?
Massachusetts court-appointed attorneys could end work stoppage after pay agreement reached
Court-appointed attorneys say an agreement reached with Massachusetts lawmakers is a "critical starting point" toward ending ...
WWLP Springfield on MSN9d
Public safety at risk: MA cases dismissed over pay dispute
A local lawmaker is sounding the alarm as criminal cases are being dismissed across the commonwealth due to a pay dispute ...
Beacon Hill leaders propose pay raise for court-appointed lawyers in effort to end work stoppage
Leaders on Beacon Hill also floated structural changes aimed at heading off future work stoppages like the one that has ...
Top Dems propose $20 raise over two years to resolve lawyer work stoppage
Top Democrats announced a deal to increase the wages of private attorneys working the legal cases of people who are unable to ...
Charges dropped against more than 120 defendants in Massachusetts because they can't get attorney
More than 120 defendants in Massachusetts have had their charges — ranging from assault to drug possession — dropped after ...