JEAN TROUNSTINE, Author at BINJ

DANCING ON BANANA PEELS

Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts “I am now in the same predicament as I was when I first got out of prison.” Khalid Mustafa attempted what many considered unthinkable: he tried to sue the Massachusetts Parole Board. Specifically, Mustafa took legal action against the body for decisions under former

JEAN TROUNSTINE May 17, 2023

UNLOCKING HIGHER ED

Experts Make The Case For More College Behind Bars College classes cost less than half of what Mass pays to incarcerate people. So why aren’t we educating more prisoners? “Knowledge of the power structure that runs society has made the biggest difference in my life.” John Yang was released from

JEAN TROUNSTINE March 31, 2023

WILL RACE MATTER …

As Mass Reconsiders Life Without Parole For 18 To 20-Year-Olds? “Late adolescents are particularly likely to be sentenced based on systemic racism and implicit biases in policing, prosecution, and sentencing.” A potential history-making hearing was held before the seven justices at the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) on Feb. 6, as

JEAN TROUNSTINE February 14, 2023

ON THE WAY HOME

A New Beginning For Formerly Incarcerated Women “Stepping into this house made me feel better … She has a way of transforming pain into passion.” When Stacey Borden exited MCI-Framingham for the final time in 2010, she was done with more than three decades of jail stints and drug use

JEAN TROUNSTINE January 11, 2023

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: CHERYL AMIRAULT LEFAVE

“Everything that I came across for 40 years has been a battle.” It seemed that last week a decades-old controversial case was headed for a pardon vote. Outgoing Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker had recommended a pardon for Cheryl Amirault LeFave and her brother, Gerald, in the well-known and highly disputed

JEAN TROUNSTINE December 22, 2022

JUDGMENT ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK

Photo of Gloriann Moroney at Governor’s Council, Oct. 12, 2022 by Lisa Berland, Parole Watch Parole Board Chair Gloriann Moroney’s contentious hearing to become a judge Another Parole Board chair with a prosecutorial background is vying to be a judge. This time, it’s Gloriann Moroney, whose hearing before the Governor’s

JEAN TROUNSTINE October 17, 2022

“POLARIZING FORCE”

Governor’s Council weighs controversial Parole Board renomination “You have an unbelievable amount of people who are against you.” Governor’s Councilor Christopher Iannella, a personal injury attorney, was grilling Massachusetts Parole Board member Colette Santa on August 3. Santa, first nominated by Gov. Charlie Baker for the board in 2017, is

JEAN TROUNSTINE August 8, 2022

HIGH DRAMA

Unruly, argumentative Governor’s Council inflames Parole Board Hearings There was high drama on display again at a Massachusetts Governor’s Council meeting at the State House last week. During two nomination hearings on June 15, councilors argued with each other, used their podiums to air their pet peeves, and insulted and

JEAN TROUNSTINE June 20, 2022

MORALE VIOLATION

Whistle-blowers report culture of “retaliation” and “nepotism” at Mass parole agency Over the past three months, seven staff members from the Massachusetts Parole Board have come to this reporter with harsh critiques of the agency. They are quoted throughout this article. The Commonwealth has a seven-member Parole Board that decides

JEAN TROUNSTINE May 23, 2022

GOVERNOR’S COUNCIL SIGNALS LANDMARK COMMUTATION LOOMS

Tom Koonce (left) and his son, Thomas Andrews, circa 2018, taken at MCI Norfolk “You had one really horrible day and you paid dearly but I think you paid enough.” On Jan. 26, 54-year-old prisoner Thomas Koonce, a former US Marine who was born in Brockton, spent nine-and-a-half hours at

JEAN TROUNSTINE January 27, 2022