MACDL has formed a Clemency Committee in response to the Governor’s new clemency guidelines, which hold promise for more relief. The Committee screens applicants and refers the most promising candidates to pro bono lawyers.
From Lawyers Weekly
New committee aims to streamline use of recently released clemency guidelines
by Kris Olson | March 8, 2024 | 4 minute read
Excerpt
Last Oct. 31, Gov. Maura T. Healey announced new clemency guidelines, and now the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has formed a committee to help ensure those guidelines realize their promise to address injustices, show compassion, and promote equity.
McDermott, Will & Emery is the first firm to have signed up for the task force, but others are expected to follow suit soon.
Robert J. CordyLast year, a member of the Boston firm, former Supreme Judicial Court Justice Robert J. Cordy, helped represent William Allen, who became the second man to have his life sentence commuted by Gov. Charlie Baker, after Thomas Koonce. The Parole Board unanimously voted to grant Allen parole last April.
Allen and Koonce were the first people serving life-without-parole sentences to receive commutation in a quarter-century.
The task force’s main job will be to screen prisoners’ commutation applications and then refer the strongest ones to pro bono counsel. Read full article…