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Court closings
"We want to know what it means for the movement of
cases and attorneys who have to get to the courthouses. Also for
the people in some poor communities--they might not have the same
access to the administration of justice."
MBA Chief Legal Counsel and
Chief Operating Officer Martin W. Healy, Boston Herald, June 6
Healy was quoted in a Herald story on the possibility
of the Trial Court closing as many as a third of the state's 101
courthouses. Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly also quoted
Healy in a June 10 story on a draft of a capital plan
calling for the closing of 41 courthouses.
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Fan injured at Fenway
Park
"Massachusetts abolished assumption of the risk
defenses so a lot of people still think whatever's written on the
back of a ticket means they've assumed the risk of being hit by a
ball or a bat. That's not really true, because that was abolished
back in 1974."
MBA Treasurer Jeffrey N.
Catalano, New England Cable News, June 8
Catalano was interviewed by New England Cable News for a story
on a legal precedent known as the "baseball rule" in relation to
spectators who are injured by a ball or bat that enters the stands.
A fan was injured on June 5 at Fenway Park when she was hit by a
piece of a broken bat. MBA Chief Legal Counsel and Chief Operating
Officer Martin W. Healy also provided his legal analysis on the
"baseball rule" in stories for the Boston Globe and Boston Herald.
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Breathalyzer tests
"While the number of cases impacted by improper use
or calibration of the Draeger 9150 appears to be limited, both
Secretary Bennett and I agree that any miscarriage of justice is
unacceptable and that lawyers should also have the opportunity to
review these records in order to determine exactly which cases may
have been tainted by error."
MBA President-elect Robert
W. Harnais, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, June
10
Harnais was quoted from an MBA press release on the securing of records
from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security pertaining
to 39,000 cases where the Draeger 9150 alcohol breath test device
was used.
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Shooting of suspected
terrorist
"It's
really in those last few seconds, it's so blurry. We really can't
see who's doing what...if they absolutely had to shoot him in that
situation or if there was some way to retreat or to disable
him."
MBA Criminal Justice
Section Vice Chair Peter Elikann, FOX25, June 8
Elikann was interviewed by FOX25 for a story about the
surveillance video of the Usaamah Rahim shooting in Roslindale.
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Of note:
- The Massachusetts Bar Association was mentioned in a Boston Globe article in reference to its
stance supporting the elimination of mandatory minimum sentences
for drug offenses. MBA President-elect Robert W. Harnais testified
as part of a panel with Families Against Mandatory Minimums in support of the legislation at a State House
hearing on Tuesday.