BOSTON — Two decades ago, many court-appointed attorneys in Hampden County stopped taking new cases representing indigent defendants to raise awareness over their low compensation.
The work stoppage wrapped up quickly when several Hampden County attorneys, also known as bar advocates, and their colleagues filed a lawsuit with the Massachusetts Superior Court claiming that low pay was creating a shortage of bar advocates, who handle about 80% of public defense cases in the commonwealth.
The case established the “Lavalle protocol,” which requires the state to release any defendants who have not been assigned a lawyer within seven days of being detained or within 45 days of being charged. According to new reports from that case in 2004, bar advocates received their biggest raise the following year.
Fast-forward 21 years, and the issue has come full circle as bar advocates are once again refusing to take new cases in an effort to pressure lawmakers into giving them a pay raise — only this time the push is coming from larger counties such as Middlesex and Suffolk in the eastern part of the state.
But one local politician, state Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, worries that the work stoppage could soon have impacts in western Massachusetts.
As of now, however, bar advocates in Hampshire County have refrained from a work stoppage, while some attorneys in Greenfield are not taking new cases, according to Michael Russo, chief of district court for the Northwest district attorney’s office.
Yet bar advocates in Franklin County claim the bigger issue is low pay rates, which deter attorneys from taking public defense cases.
“I think it’s an unmitigated disaster,” said Greenfield attorney John Godleski, who is also the supervisor of Franklin County’s bar advocate panel. “We in Franklin County have somehow managed to keep everyone covered, but it is a daily scramble doing it. And it’s unsustainable — eventually we’re just going to run out of threads to pull to keep getting coverage. We just don’t have enough manpower.”
That impact was felt in Boston on Tuesday, when a judge in Boston Municipal Court dismissed more than 100 cases on Tuesday, citing the Lavalle clause. The cases dropped involved alleged crimes ranging from shoplifting to assault.
“These aren’t [all] insignificant criminal offenses,” Velis said. “And my sincere concern is that people who would otherwise be held, because of this work stoppage, have to be released. Many of these individuals that are being released have demonstrated a propensity for violence.”
The gravity of the situation has pulled Gov. Maura Healey’s attention after two months of the work stoppage. She urged bar advocates to return to work on Wednesday while the legislature works out a dollar figure to earmark for court-appointed lawyers.
Velis echoes the call, worried that if the work stoppage will not end, its impacts will spread throughout the commonwealth.
“I think the bar advocates deserve a raise, but saying you’re not going to go back to work until you get a raise isn’t the way to go about doing this,” Velis said.
Massachusetts pays bar advocates $65 per hour for representing a client in District Court and $85 for Superior Court, according to a press release circulated by bar advocate Mara Dolan, who is also an elected member of the Governor’s Council. Bar advocates say they are paid far less than their peers in neighboring states — Maine pays $158 per hour, New Hampshire pays $125 to $150, New York pays $158 and Rhode Island pays $112 to $142.
Healey called the work stoppage a public safety issue, and Velis agrees, adding that while everyone is innocent until proven guilty, he’s concerned that some of the charged individuals have “shown a propensity for violence.”
“We’ve got defendants who are entitled to due process and representation. We’ve got victims who need to make sure that their cases are addressed and heard, and we’ve got a system of justice that depends on that,” Healey said.
Legislative Democrats call the strike a “$100 million issue” as they prepare for what they call a particularly tight budget year. The state has $8 billion in cash reserves to pad any unforeseen fiscal challenges.
With federal grants falling through and revenue down, Velis said that nearly all nonprofits and government agencies are asking for more state support. He sympathizes with the attorneys and continues to chart a path toward raises. However, he does not view the strike as a responsible negotiating tactic.
“There’s a reason that police officers cannot strike,” Velis said. “There’s a reason judges cannot strike. There’s a reason prosecutors cannot strike. I would argue that it’s [the work stoppage] irresponsible and reckless because it says we are willing to take into account the public safety risks and challenges but we are still not going back to work.”
Healey said Wednesday that she’ll “leave it up to the Legislature” to determine the dollar figure attached to a resolution “in what is a challenging budget scenario.” She has previously said she thinks “money is part of it, absolutely, but the question is, how much more money and when?”
“So I would just strongly encourage people to get back to court and continue to represent and take cases in court while the Legislature works with them to resolve this,” the governor said.
Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com. This story used reporting from a State House News article by Ella Adams and a Greenfield Recorder story by Domenic Poli.