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Top Court Strikes Down Mass. Anti-Panhandling Law
The highest court in Massachusetts on Tuesday struck down a state law making it illegal for people to ask for money for their own support on public roads. A decision from the Supreme Judicial Court found that the law violated free speech rights because it prohibited people from requesting money for personal support on roadways but specifically allowed the sale…
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Gov. Baker Taps Dalila Argaez Wendlandt for Supreme Judicial Court
Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday nominated Appeals Court Associate Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt to a seat on the Supreme Judicial Court, paving the way for her to become the first Latina to serve on the high court bench. In a press conference, Baker highlighted Wendlandt’s thoughtfulness, collegiality and judiciousness in tapping her for the seat, one of two on...
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Mass. SJC to Hear Arguments in Fall River Anti-Panhandling Suit
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments challenging a law that makes it illegal for people to ask for money on public roads Monday. The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against Fall River in March of last year, arguing the city was aggressively enforcing the state law. They also argue the law itself is unconstitutional….
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Mass. SJC to Hear Arguments on Panhandling Ban
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court was scheduled to hear arguments Monday on a case out of Fall River that challenges a law that makes it illegal for people to ask for money on public roads.
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Mass. SJC to Hear Arguments on Panhandling Ban
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments challenging a law that makes it illegal for people to ask for money on public roads Monday.
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‘We Need Her Leadership': Baker Taps Kimberly Budd for SJC Chief
Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday nominated Associate Justice Kimberly Budd as the next chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, paving the way for her to become the first Black woman to lead the body. In a press conference at the State House, Baker repeatedly highlighted Budd’s ability to listen to others and collaborate, saying such qualities were...
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Baker Nominates Kimberly Budd to Chief Justice of Mass. SJC
For the first time, a Black woman has been nominated to become the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
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Gov. Baker Remembers ‘Brilliance' of SJC Chief Justice Gants
In a touching speech, Gov. Charlie Baker honors the memory of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants, who died suddenly on Monday.
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Ralph Gants, Chief Justice of Massachusetts' Top Court, Dies
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants has died, the associate justices of the court announced Monday. Their statement did not give any details about when or how Gants had died. “It is with deep sadness that the Associate Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court announce the death of Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants. Our hearts and prayers are…
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Mass. SJC Chief Justice Ralph Gants Says He Suffered Heart Attack Friday
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants suffered a heart attack last week, he announced Tuesday in a statement. “I suffered a heart attack on Friday, September 4,” Gants said in the statement released by the court’s public information office. “I was admitted to the hospital where surgeons inserted 2 stents in the occluded artery, and I expect to…
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Mass. SJC Allows Beer, Wine Sale Ballot Question to Move Forward
Supporters of a ballot question that would let convenience stores and other food stores sell beer and wine won a key legal battle in Massachusetts’s highest court on Tuesday. The question was launched by the convenience store chain Cumberland Farms and would let local authorities issue licenses allowing food stores to sell beer and wine. Local licensing authorities would...
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Bar Exam in Mass. Pushed Back to Fall
The Bar Examination in Massachusetts has been postponed until the very end of September, authorities said Saturday. The two-day exam, which evaluates the qualifications of prospective lawyers, was originally scheduled for the end of July. It will now be held in Boston on Wednesday, Sept. 30 and Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, the Supreme Judicial Court and the Board of Bar…
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Mass.' High Court Orders Release of Some Inmates Due to Coronavirus Crisis
People in jail awaiting trial in Massachusetts should be released due to the coronavirus pandemic unless prosecutors can prove they pose an “unreasonable” danger to the community or flight risk, the state’s highest court said Friday. People who are being held on bail and aren’t facing certain serious offenses are entitled to a “rebuttable presumption of release,” the Supreme...
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Mass. Supreme Judicial Court: Former House Speaker Finneran Must Lose Pension
Massachusetts’ highest court has reportedly ruled that former House speaker Thomas Finneran must give up his state pension.
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Appeal Denied in Texting Suicide Case
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the involuntary manslaughter conviction of a Plainville woman after she encouraged her boyfriend to kill himself in dozens of text messages and told him to “get back in” a truck filled with toxic gas.
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Mass. High Court Sides With Police Cadet in Drug Test Case
Massachusetts’ highest court has sided with a black police cadet who was refused a job after he failed a hair follicle drug test. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 6-to-1 on Wednesday that Michael Gannon was wrongly denied employment by Boston police.
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Rollins Asks High Court to Overrule Judge
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins is petitioning for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to intervene after a judge declined to drop charges against counterprotesters arrested during the “straight pride” parade.
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Lewdness Trial for Convicted Child Rapist Wayne Chapman Begins
The trial began Monday for Wayne Chapman, the convicted child rapist who faces additional time behind bars after allegedly exposing himself to prison nurses in Massachusetts. Chapman, 71, has served 30 years in prison after he was convicted of sexually assaulting two boys in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1977. He faces additional time behind bars after the newest accusations came to light last June.
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Illegal or Just Immoral? Film Explores Texting Suicide Case
Michelle Carter sent her suicidal boyfriend countless text messages encouraging him to follow through on his plan to take his own life until he actually did. Two years after Carter was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in a case that gripped the nation, the director of a new documentary wants viewers to decide for themselves whether her actions were criminal.
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Convicted Child Rapist Wayne Chapman Unable to Pay Bail, Will Remain in Prison Until Trial
Convicted child rapist Wayne Chapman will continue to sit behind bars as he awaits trial because he is unable to pay the $25,000 bail, according to his attorney. The bail stems from new charges that include open and gross lewdness, wanton and lascivious acts and more after he allegedly exposed himself and was masturbating in the view of a prison...