New series by Jean Trounstine includes original data set on Massachusetts judicial appointments culled from hundreds of paper files
For about a year, BINJ prison reporter Jean Trounstine has expanded her coverage of physical brick institutions and the prisoners in them to also focus on the institutions that send and keep people there.
Among the many facets of the so-called justice system that warrant impugnment, Jean has taken an especially close look at the Massachusetts Parole Board. And with a grant from the Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation, this year she extended her purview to the Massachusetts Governor’s Council which votes on Parole Board members as well as all district, state, and other judges. As she writes:
We have been investigating the obscure body for six months, unraveling records that only exist in paper files in the State House, delving into history, and scouring news archives. We want to know how the council operates, what’s behind consequential appointments, if constitutionally-required checks and balances are in place, and whether politics plays a role in these important decisions. Our mission: uncover how the council—and the process—produces certain kinds of nominees, and drastically overlooks others.
You can read the first installment of Governing In Darkness here (and Part 2 here, plus Part 3 here). All of the data Jean and her research assistants—Yaakov Aldrich, Ronan Fitzgerald, and Lindsay Shachnow—collected by hand over several months is now available to the public for the first time, including the voting records of councilors during the tenure of former Gov. Charlie Baker. The feature also addresses how current Gov. Maura Healey is handling her own appointments.
If you are from an advocacy group or media organization, or are an individual seeking more of our research from this ongoing project, please contact BINJ Editorial Director Chris Faraone at fara1@binjonline.org.
