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Positions
Freedom to marry
Death Penalty
Choice
Embryonic Stem
Cell Research
Tax Roll Back
Criminal
Justice
Affordable
Housing
Freedom to
Marry
I support freedom to marry.
Love and commitment are good things and
adults should be free to love and make binding commitments
to whomever they choose.
Freedom to marry should not be up to popular
vote. Marriage is a civil institution to which all citizens
deserve equal access. It is the role of the courts to
protect equality under the law for all citizens and
I oppose efforts to tamper with this fundamental principle.
Death
Penalty
I oppose the death penalty.
The death penalty wouldn’t make Massachusetts
one bit safer. People who commit awful crimes are uniformly
people who have little regard for the consequences of
their actions -- they will not be deterred by the threat
of death.
Also, as an experienced criminal trial
attorney, I know that mistakes are possible in any system.
The risk of tragic error in a death penalty system is
all too real.
I strongly support funding for victim-witness
advocate programs. I believe that the personal support
that we give to victims is vitally important to their
recovery.
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Choice
I support a woman's right to choose.
The government should not interfere in
the most deeply personal decisions in our lives.
Prevention is the top priority. We should
do all that we can to reduce unintended pregnancy.
Broad legal access to contraception is
critical to helping women out of poverty. Teen pregnancy
is one of the principal barriers to economic advancement.
I strongly support the new emergency contraception law,
so that women will have timely access to the “morning-after”
pill. And I support access to reproductive health services
for all women, regardless of economic circumstance.
I also believe strongly in broad
dissemination of the information that women and men
need to make sensible choices about parenthood and to
avoid unintended pregnancies.
Do you support the currently pending
proposal to add health education to the statewide core
curriculum?
Yes. I support comprehensive health education
in the public schools so that young people will have
the health information they need to make smart decisions
and lead healthy lives.
The currently pending proposal does not
deprive local school districts of the freedom to choose
their curriculum, and maintains a parent's ability to
opt their children out of sex education classes. There
is a lot that we know today about how to stay healthy.
Teaching kids how to stay healthy is an important long
term investment.
How do you feel about expanding the
buffer zones around clinics that offer pregnancy prevention
and abortion services?
I support the pending legislation to establish
a fixed 35 foot buffer zone within which protesters
may not stand. Women who are weighing the emotionally
difficult choice to seek an abortion should not be forced
to argue with strangers, nor should the majority of
women who are entering these facilities for services
other than abortion.
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Embryonic
Stem Cell Research
Stem cell research holds potential for
new treatments for many serious disorders, including
diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease and
many others.
Blastocysts, from which stem cells
are extracted, are microscopic balls of a few cells.
They should be available for research if they are not
wanted by the donors that created them. The state must
ensure that this research is conducted ethically, and
in order to capture the economic benefits in terms of
new jobs and firms, the state should follow the lead
of other states by providing support for research and
development.
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Tax Roll Back
I oppose an income tax roll back at this
time.
No one likes taxes, and there is nothing
sweeter than promising to cut them. The legislature
has passed dozens of tax breaks over the past few years.
But over the past few years, the state has also made
budget cuts that just don’t make long-term sense
– cuts in local aid, public health and environmental
protection, for example. As economic recovery leads
to an increase in revenues, the first priority has to
be restoration of essential programs, not more tax cuts.
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Criminal
Justice
In my career, I have been both a prosecutor
and a defense attorney. I have also written, taught
and consulted as an expert on substance abuse and criminal
justice issues. See publications
. As a legislator, it will be a personal priority for
me to help improve the justice system.
Most people who get sent to jail or prison are released
within a few months or years. With our current high
incarceration rates, we have to do everything we can
to make it more likely that prisoners will be successful
when they are released. I will advocate for effective
education and treatment in prison and meaningful support
for those who are trying to make the transition back
to liberty and responsibility.
Substance abuse creates most of the business
of the criminal justice system and much of the business
in family court. I will advocate for effective, high
quality substance abuse treatment programs and for outreach
programs to assure that those who need substance abuse
treatment are more likely to receive it.
I have long been troubled by high incarceration
rates for drug dealing offenses among young African
American and Hispanic men, especially in high poverty
areas. I will advocate for moderation of mandatory sentencing
policies and for greater use of sanctions against out-of-town
buyers who feed urban drug markets.
I will be a strong supporter of
measures to provide compensation sufficient to retain
experienced prosecutors and court-appointed defense
attorneys. Only with experienced lawyers on both sides
can justice be well-served. Stabilization of both sides
of the criminal bar is a top priority for both justice
and public safety.
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Affordable
Housing
Access to safe, affordable housing is
a fundamental human right, as well as a crucial element
in the future success of our Commonwealth. The costs
of housing have strained the resources of many hard-working
people—while forcing too many of our residents,
and often their families, into homelessness. High housing
costs are also a major cause of the increasing loss
of population, particularly among young adults, that
is affecting Massachusetts’ future economic vitality.
As a State Representative, I will work
to improve the regional transportation network, so that
urban centers like New Bedford and Worcester that offer
significant amounts of affordable housing are more viable
homes for more people who work in Greater Boston. I
will fight for the restoration of the cuts in low-income
housing funding at the state level, and the continuation
of state programs that support affordable housing. Although
it is important to preserve local controls, I support
the basic mechanism of Chapter 40B which helps to increase
affordable housing in communities that do not have a
sufficient percentage of affordable units. I am in favor
of “smart growth” initiatives that offer rewards
and planning assistance to help communities absorb greater
housing density near centralized public transportation.
As a member of the Belmont Board of Selectmen,
I have worked diligently to increase the affordable
housing stock. I was a major proponent of Belmont’s
local inclusionary zoning bylaw; I facilitated the agreement
that put affordable units on surplus Town land; and
I spent several years working to implement the agreement
with McLean Hospital that included affordable housing
units within the new developments on their property.
By strengthening our commitment to affordable
housing, we will strengthen the well-being of many of
our citizens, of our communities, and of our economic
future.
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