February 27, 2017<\/p>\n
District Attorneys,<\/p>\n
We the undersigned constituent community, religious, advocacy, and civil rights organizations urge
\nyou to swiftly dismiss with prejudice all drug convictions tainted by the Hinton Drug Lab scandal.
\nJustice delayed is justice denied.<\/p>\n
The recent Supreme Judicial Court ruling in Bridgeman v District Attorneys gives your offices until April
\n18, 2017 to decide which of these tainted cases you will dismiss with prejudice. We are aware that
\nyour offices have the power and discretion to dismiss all the tainted convictions outright.
\nDismissing every tainted conviction with prejudice is the only just, prudent, and responsible course
\nof action.<\/p>\n
Between 2012 and 2016, chemist Annie Dookhan was investigated, arrested, prosecuted, and
\nconvicted, and served over two years in state prison. During that time, your offices obstructed
\nattempts to bring a comprehensive remedy to the crisis. In the course of your offices\u2019 costly legal
\nbattle to protect these tainted convictions, your attorneys even went so far as to argue that police
\nand prosecutors bore the brunt of the impact of the scandal.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the true victims of the Hinton Drug Lab scandal continue to suffer the collateral
\nconsequences of their tainted convictions\u2014including trauma from incarceration, loss of public
\nhousing and benefits, immigration consequences, criminal records, and enhanced sentencing on any
\nfuture convictions.<\/p>\n
Ms. Dookhan is the only person who has been held accountable for what is evidently systemic
\ncorruption and misconduct. Your offices have a final opportunity to be accountable for your role in
\nthe scandal and blocking the administration of justice. The bare minimum your offices can do is
\ndismiss with prejudice all of the tainted convictions. True justice would see your offices commit
\nresources and political influence to assist Hinton Drug Lab crisis victims to (1) expunge their
\nrecords; (2) reverse deportation proceedings; (3) restore public benefits; and (4) push your counties
\nto construct legislative remedies in order to provide remuneration. Additionally, to prevent further
\nabuse of power, we ask that your offices support the repeal of mandatory minimums this legislative
\nsession by endorsing SD500 and HD1794.<\/p>\n
It is a clich\u00e9 in Massachusetts that we can\u2019t arrest or prosecute our way out of the crisis of drug
\naddiction. Nonetheless, your offices not only continue to prosecute new drug offenses but have
\nwasted precious public resources \u201cprotecting\u201d tainted convictions. The majority of the tainted
\nHinton Lab convictions were for simple possession, and over 90% were prosecuted in District
\nCourt. Our communities would have been better served had your offices pursued dismissal,
\ndiversion, and alternative sentences in the first place.<\/p>\n
The scandal continues to impact people to this day because of your refusal to do the right thing.
\nProtecting convictions instead of your constituents serves no public good and in fact endangers
\nindividuals, families, and communities. There is widespread public support for dismissing with
\nprejudice all the cases. As the Amherst Lab scandal looms, such a remedy should serve as a model
\nfor how these additional tainted cases should be handled by your offices.<\/p>\n
Massachusetts must move beyond rhetoric and begin to treat drug addiction as a public health issue.
\nDismissing the tainted convictions is an essential step in the right direction.<\/p>\n
Sincerely,<\/p>\n
American Friends Service Committee
\nArlington Street Church – Social Action
\nCommittee
\nBlack and Pink
\nBoston Coalition for Police Accountability
\nBoston Liberation Health Group
\nBoston Police Camera Action Team
\nBrazilian Women’s Group
\nCenter for Church and Prison
\nCharles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race
\nand Justice at Harvard Law School
\nThe City School
\nCoalition for Effective Public Safety
\nConcerned Elders Re-entry Program, Inc
\nCriminal Justice Policy Coalition
\nCriminal Justice Task Force of Congregation
\nDorshei Tzedek
\nDigital Fourth \/ Restore The 4th – Boston
\nEMIT – End Mass Incarceration Together
\nEx-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for
\nCommunity Advancement
\nFamilies for Justice as Healing
\nJewish Voices for Peace, Boston Chapter
\nLaw Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP)
\nThe Law Offices of Howard Friedman, P.C.
\nMassachusetts Bail Fund
\nMassachusetts Pirate Party
\nNational Council of Incarcerated and Formerly
\nIncarcerated Women and Girls, Massachusetts
\nChapter
\nNational Lawyers Guild, Massachusetts Chapter
\nNeighbor 2 Neighbor
\nNo Drug Arrests Collective (NDAC)
\nPrisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts
\nReal Cost of Prisons Project
\nSIFMA NOW
\nSPAN Inc.
\nStuck on Replay
\nStudents for Sensible Drug Policy
\nSupernova Women
\nShowing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) – Boston
\nShowing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) – Western
\nMassachusetts
\nThrough Barbed Wire
\nUnitarian Universalist Mass Action Network
\nWomen’s International League for Peace and
\nFreedom, Boston Chapter
\nYoung Abolitionists<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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