eJournal

The Massachusetts Bar Association’s House of Delegates voted to support a proposed foster child bill of rights and a Trial Court measure that would add judges to the Probate and Family Court Department, among other new business, at its most recent meeting on March 30, held over Zoom.

MBA President Grace V.B. Garcia opened the meeting with a recap of her trip earlier in the week with MBA President-elect Damian J. Turco to Washington, D.C., for ABA Day, an annual lobbying event organized by the American Bar Association. As part of the Massachusetts delegation, which also included leaders from the Boston Bar Association, they met with congressional representatives from Massachusetts and their staff members to seek their support for the Legal Services Corporation’s budget, which provides funding for legal aid programs nationwide.

Garcia also discussed the MBA’s continued collaboration with court leaders, noting her attendance at the March 29 meeting with court and bar association leaders at the Supreme Judicial Court to talk about the court’s budgetary needs this year. Trial Court Administrator Thomas Ambrosino later spoke at the HOD meeting about the Trial Court’s budget priorities, which include implementing the MBA-backed IT bond bill that will upgrade the court’s IT systems and infrastructure, and increasing access to justice. 

The MBA president also noted that she and Turco are continuing to meet with the chief justices from each state court department, including a recent meeting with Land Court Chief Justice Gordon H. Piper, which led to a discussion of how the MBA might be able to help connect unrepresented individuals in foreclosure cases to attorneys. “These are the kinds of conversations we’re having with judges, really seeing where their needs are,” she said.

Up next, Turco congratulated the 23 MBA Leadership Academy Fellows who recently graduated from the program this year. Noting that planning for next year’s Leadership Academy program is already underway, he encouraged MBA members and leaders of other bar associations to think about the “rising stars” in their networks who might be interested in next year’s program.

MBA Chief Legal Counsel and Chief Operating Officer Martin W. Healy then reported on the MBA’s recent discussions with Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s office, including on the issue of clemency and turning the MBA’s 2021 Clemency Task Force Report into a set of guidelines. He is also advocating for a continuation of the Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Appointments, which has reviewed and reported on the qualifications of state judicial appointments since 1961.

New Business

In new business, Hon. Jay D. Blitzman (Ret.), the vice chair of the MBA’s Juvenile & Child Welfare Section, introduced a measure seeking HOD support in principle for pending House and Senate bills (H.164/S.68) that would establish a bill of rights for children in foster care. HOD members voted to approve the measure.

Following a vote to suspend the rules and waive notice requirements, HOD members then entertained two new proposals, including one to support An Act Relative to Safer Schools (H.2273/S. 2056), which would clarify the roles of police officers in schools and limit their use in school disciplinary matters. HOD members voted to approve the measure. The HOD also voted to support in principle An Act Protecting Youth During Custodial Interrogations (S.69), which would limit police from using misleading information during juvenile interrogations.

MBA Criminal Justice Section Chair Georgia Critsley, giving a report on behalf of the Trial Court, then asked HOD members to support in principle proposals that would add eight circuit judges to the Probate and Family Court Department (H. 1491/S.1138). Additional judges would help improve the administration of justice due to the increased complexity of Probate and Family Court cases and the high numbers of self-represented litigants, she explained. Family Law Section Chair Marc Moccia also noted the Family Law Section’s support for the bills, and HOD members voted to approve the measure.

Turning to the Criminal Justice Section Report, Critsley asked HOD members to support in principle a proposal that includes eliminating after-hours bail fees. (H.1646/S.1001). HOD members voted to support the measure. MBA Criminal Justice Section Vice Chair Barry Bisson, with support from Ashleigh Pelto from Greater Boston Legal Services, then asked HOD members to approve in principle a House proposal that would support survivors of trafficking and abuse (H.1701) who are arrested for the unlawful acts that their traffickers and abusers make them do. HOD members voted to approve the measure.

The minutes from the January HOD meeting, introduced by MBA Secretary Samuel A. Segal, were also approved during the March meeting. The next HOD meeting will be held on May 18.