Mass. Lawyers Weekly, November 19, 2015 To the editor: When The Boston Globe Spotlight team published a series of articles revealing, to no one’s surprise, that there was political patronage hiring in the Probation Department, the Supreme Judicial Court hired attorney Paul F. Ware Jr. and armed him with subpoena power to conduct an investigation….
Month: November 2015
Attacks on DA not helpful to sentencing debate
Mass. Lawyers Weekly letter, April 9, 2015 To the editor: Having recently retired after 25 years on the District Court bench, I approach the current controversy over minimum mandatory sentences in drug cases with a natural bias against limitation of a judge’s discretion. I can understand, however, why a prosecutor finds them to be useful…
Judge Young’s Comments on O’Brien
Mass. Lawyers Weekly, November 26, 2014 To the editor: Any sentient being in the legal or court communities has known about the influence of political patronage in judicial hiring not for decades, but for generations. U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young’s comments on the subject at the sentencing of former Probation Department Commissioner John…
If you want to be Governor, don’t run for AG
Mass. Lawyers Weekly, November 14, 2014 Attorney General-elect Maura Healey does not seem to have much chance of becoming governor of Massachusetts. No one should be surprised that Attorney General Martha Coakley was defeated in her recent campaign for governor. In all of Massachusetts political history, no sitting elected attorney general has ever been elected…
Throw money at obesity
Boston Globe letter, September 21, 2015 THE HEADLINE of Joanna Weiss’s Sept. 11 opinion column — “Politicians are needed to help end the obesity crisis” — highlights its essential flaw. So, what’s the solution she wants to see? New taxes? New subsidies? More politicians, guided by their contributors and lobbyists, picking economic winners and losers?…
Trump & Silber – No Comparison
Boston Globe letter, August 27, 2015 JOHN SILBER certainly had a memorably acerbic and ear-catching style of expression, but Scot Lehigh is wrong to equate him to Donald Trump (“Donald Trump is John Silber Redux,” Opinion, Aug. 26). Silber’s often colorful comments were grounded in a well thought out philosophy. Trump is a bombastic blowhard…
OK for Brady to Pass
Boston Herald letter, September 24, 2014 Steve Buckley has it exactly wrong ( Sept. 19). Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is an exceptional football player. It is not part of his role to comment on social issues or other players’ off-the-field conduct for the titillation of sportswriters. Athletes and actors should be judged by their performances,…
B&Bs vs. Rentals; Let’s Reverse Question
Cape Cod Times letter, April 15, 2015 Noting that the hotel room occupancy tax has been extended to bed-and-breakfasts and arguing that it should be extended to summer home rentals (“Falmouth seeks expansion of hotel room taxes,” April 10), Falmouth Selectman Sam Patterson says, “It seems to me to be an unfair situation that needs…
Liston Henry’s Instructive Immigration Tale
By Brian R. Merrick Cape Cod Times column, November 2, 2015 Puzzling over the sudden extraordinary success of the presidential campaign of a certain noisy, immigrant-baiting real estate developer, it is useful to consider the case of Liston Henry (“Cape man deported after conviction wins appeal,” Oct. 3, and “Deported Hyannis man on long road…
Political Leanings Should Not Dictate Business Licenses
Cape Cod Times Letter, September 29, 2015 Stonehill Professor Peter Ubertaccio’s letter (“Davis’ actions singular in contempt for the law,” Letters, Sept. 25) perceptively notes the impropriety of the Kentucky clerk’s denial of a marriage license to a gay couple because of her own personal religious preferences. That thoughtful letter is a useful juxtaposition to…
Revamping Our Approach to Mental Illness
Cape Cod Times column, September 18, 2015 by Brian R. Merrick In a very thoughtful Aug. 27 column, Cynthia Stead asks whether it’s time to reopen state mental hospitals. The answer must be an emphatic “yes.” Reviewing the history of deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, Stead notes that over the past half-century a perfect storm…
The Lesson of D-Day
Cape Cod Times Letters, June 5, 2015 The question of whether ISIS represents a threat to the homeland, possibly warranting some use of American military ground forces, is not an easy one. Jim Coogan’s column (“Contemporary lessons from D-Day,” June 2) does not advance an intelligent discussion. His stated ad hominem reason for opposition is…
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