Lawyers e-Journal
Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011
News from the courts
2011 Edition of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence now available; SJC assessing task force action plan on Probation Department reform; U.S. Court of Appeals provides notice of proposed amendments to Local Rule 46.0(f)
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2011 Edition of the Massachusetts
Guide to Evidence now available
The Supreme Judicial Court and its Executive Committee on
Massachusetts Evidence Law has announced the release of the 2011
edition of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence. The Justices of the
Supreme Judicial Court recommend use of the guide by the bench, bar
and public.
The 2011 edition is the third annual edition of the guide. It is
available without charge on the Supreme Judicial Court, Appeals
Court and Trial Court Web sites. The official print edition of the
2011 edition is available for purchase from the Flaschner Judicial
Institute, which is again providing a complimentary copy to every
judge in the commonwealth.
The Massachusetts Guide to Evidence assembles existing
Massachusetts evidence law in an easy-to-use document organized
similarly to the Federal Rules of Evidence. The guide includes
extensive explanatory notes and citations to pertinent authorities.
Click here to learn more.
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SJC assessing task force action
plan on Probation Department reform
The Supreme Judicial Court is currently reviewing the
recommendations in the "Action Plan for Reform and Renewal of
Probation Department Hiring and Promotion Practices," which was
delivered to the court on Feb. 10 by the SJC's Task Force chaired
by former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger.
The comprehensive report calls for immediate action by the court
and Legislature to restore the integrity in the hiring and
promotion practices in the Probation Department. The action plan
outlines a detailed and substantive series of steps that the task
force believes will transform the Probation Department's formerly
corrupted hiring process into a national model.
The action steps include the following:
- Adoption of seven nationally recognized and proven principles
for recruiting, hiring and promoting high quality probation
officers;
- Implementation of a plan for recruiting, hiring and retaining
chief probation officers of proven quality in positions that now
are vacant or filled by acting chiefs;
- Installation of an application tracking system that records all
phases of the application process, all actions taken by those
involved in hiring and promotion of an applicant and all
recommendations and references any applicant receives;
- Prompt restoration of managerial controls that were taken away
from the Chief Justice for Administration and Management in
2002;
- Prompt review of staffing levels in the Probation Department to
insure that that the staff is appropriate for the number of cases
the department is handling and that workloads are appropriately
distributed; and
- Oversight of probation hiring and promotion by an outside
entity for the next two years with periodic public reports of the
reforms being implemented in the department and the results of such
reforms.
Click here to learn more.
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U.S. Court of Appeals
provides notice of proposed amendments to Local Rule
46.0(f)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has provided
notice that it proposes amendments to Local Rule 46.0(f) (Standing
Rule Governing Appearance and Argument by Eligible Law Students).
Click here to view the amendments. Comments
are due by Wednesday, March 16.