criminal justice reform Archives

A New Governor’s Council Already Made History; But Will It Bring Change To Massachusetts?

Influential body welcomes first members of color in 30-plus years, plus vets groundbreaking transgender judicial nominee

JEAN TROUNSTINE January 13, 2025

Organizers, Lawmakers Propose “Clean Slate” For Eligible Past Offenders

Legislation would create “modern, automated system to seal Criminal Offender Record Information” (CORIs), clearing barriers to housing, employment, and more

DANA FORSYTHE January 12, 2025

Wrongful Conviction Compensation Massachusetts

New BINJ Feature On Wrongful Conviction Compensation

Nearly a hundred people have been exonerated by state and federal courts in Massachusetts since 1989. “Together, they spent more than 1,341 years imprisoned for crimes they did not commit.”

BINJ ONLINE November 8, 2024

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

DAY-LONG HEARING ON CORRECTIONS SEES PLEAS FOR FREE CALLS AND AN END TO LIFE W/OUT PAROLE

150-plus Advocates testify about “broken” Mass criminal legal system

JEAN TROUNSTINE October 7, 2021

REPORT: COMMONWEALTH COMMITTED TO “OTHER DEATH PENALTY”

New report shows 1/6 of women in Mass prisons sentenced to life without parole.

JEAN TROUNSTINE February 24, 2021

INSIDE THE BATTLE OVER A NEW WOMEN’S PRISON FOR MASSACHUSETTS

“Either they don’t have people with the right expertise in charge of this process, making very embarrassing bumbles, or you literally are trying to circumvent the process.”

DAN ATKINSON February 8, 2021

REVOCATION NATION: REINCARCERATION FOR TECHNICAL PAROLE VIOLATIONS IN THE AGE OF COVID-19

Jonathan Best had been out of prison for two years when he ended a rocky relationship with his girlfriend. Like many men and women on parole—a form of early release, in which the remainder of one’s sentence is served in the community—he suffered from depression and anxiety. At the

JEAN TROUNSTINE September 15, 2020

MASS CONSIDERS LEGISLATION TO AID PRISONERS, ENCOURAGE FAMILY CONTACT

“When COVID first started, I didn’t hear from him. You don’t know what it feels like to not know if your loved one is alive or dead.”

JEAN TROUNSTINE June 22, 2020

THE DYSFUNCTIONAL MASS PAROLE BOARD’S INEVITABLE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

“Most prisons and many jails have done very little to reduce the population density that puts both incarcerated people and staff at grave risk.”

JEAN TROUNSTINE April 21, 2020