Massachusetts’ highest court is being asked to grapple this week with a question that some say could have impact far beyond a single case: Should a court-appointed lawyer’s racist, Islamophobic Facebook posts disqualify him from representing a Black, Muslim client?
The issue is at the heart of an appeal from a defendant who said he deserves a new trial after discovering that his public defender made more than 20 bigoted social media posts while representing him.
A lower court judge ruled that the appellant, Anthony Dew, hadn’t proven how his former defender’s racism amounted to ineffective representation.
But, in a sign of how impactful the decision could be, 10 groups—including national civil rights organizations, criminal justice advocates, and bar associations—are pressing the state’s Supreme Judicial Court to declare that it won’t take a chance on a lawyer’s personal beliefs infecting the criminal justice system. One brief came from a person who is currently incarcerated.
The appeal, to be argued Wednesday, is “one of the first of its kind, but it’s not going to be the last,” said Daniel Harawa, of counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund. He said if the high court doesn’t agree the case was tainted, “it would be a serious threat to the integrity of our entire judicial system.”
Dew, a Boston resident, was...
MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Thursday arrested former broadcaster and commentator Jay Sonza after a Pasay court issued a warrant over the alleged spread of fa...