Before the legislature is the question of how to respond to the case of Commonwealth v. Diatchenko. In that case, our Supreme Judicial Court found that it is unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life without parole for first degree murder. The basic question the legislature needs to answer is what should be the first …
Continue reading “Reading the Juvenile Life without Parole Cases”
We got through the budget week! The Senate budget unfolded without too much drama along the lines I outlined in my pre-budget piece. Thanks to all for comments on that piece. A few highlights and notes about the process: Commenters (and others by phone and email) urged support for the Mass Cultural Council budget. We …
In the coming week, the Senate will take up the budget for Fiscal 2015. We will vote on amendments proposed to the Senate Ways and Means draft budget and then send the budget to a conference committee to resolve differences with the House budget. This is a year where the major parameters of the budget …
The committee working to resolve the differences between the House and Senate on election legislation reported out a compromise bill last week. We approved the report unanimously in the Senate. The bill will come back for final enactment next week. Here are the main elements of what was reported out: A new mechanism to allow …
In response to popular demand, I’ve created this conversation category on drugs and addictions. This overview collects some older posts and summarizes my current thinking. I have been thinking about these issues for over 20 years and my thinking has evolved considerably over time. Here is an overview of my thinking on drugs and addictions: …
I want to start a conversation on this site about a matter before the Senate that has been troubling me. I’d like to hear how my constituents feel about Senate 1225 which would require the state’s pension fund to sell all stocks in oil, coal and gas companies (fossil fuel companies). My initial reaction to …
