[Note: Friends of Justice is a personal blog. I speak only for myself.]
Dear Friend of Justice,
I live in Massachusetts, the witch-hunt state, where the spirit of Salem still lives. The enemies of justice here are many. There are former Attorneys General Scott Harshbarger and Tom Reilly, who built their political careers railroading the innocent Amirault family into prison.
There’s the motley crew in Berkshire County: the late Gerard Downing, “therapist” Jane Satullo, current DA David Capeless, Judge Daniel Ford. Perhaps their greatest victory against justice was the corrupt imprisonment of an innocent teenager, Bernard Baran, finally recently cleared of charges after twenty-five years. But we must not forget Robert Halsey, Bruce Clairmont, Paul Litchfield, Lou Piccone, Michael O’Laughlin, and many others.
And then there’s the current Massachusetts Attorney General, Martha Coakley. She is probably the most powerful and most dangerous of the enemies of justice, because the political careers of Harhsbarger and Reilly are, thankfully, at an end. Coakley built her career prosecuting and demonizing two innocent grandparents, Ray and Shirley Souza. As DA of Middlesex County she left no stone unturned to prevent the reversal of a successful wrongful prosecution. She is perhaps best known for her battle to preserve the conviction of the Amiraults. But there was at least one incident in which she tried to plea bargain someone after he had been exonerated by DNA.
Michael O’Laughlin’s conviction was recently unanimously thrown out by the First Circuit Court of Appleas, not a Court known for its sympathy for defendants. Now Coakley is coming to the aid of her buddy David Capeless and is attempting to reinstate Michael’s conviction.
See:
Coakley seeks to reverse ‘flawed’ decision
Coakley seeks to reverse ‘flawed’ decision –
By Jack Dew Berkshire Eagle Staff LEE — The attorney general is seeking to keep Michael O’Laughlin, convicted of beating a Lee woman View Full Story
Coakley is ruthless and ambitious. She has made no secret of her desire to be a United States Senator. She was ready to go after it when there was a chance that John Kerry might be elected President and would have to give up his Senate seat. Now she is lusting after Ted Kennedy’s seat. Kennedy is seriously ill. Coakley would likely be the only prominent woman in a crowded race. She would almost certainly have the endorsement of the wretched Boston Globe. And she just made a major (and cynical) play for the gay and lesbian vote by challenging the Federal Defense of marriage Act.
And after the Senate, there’s always the Presidency.
-Bob Chatelle
Thank you again Bob for your cogent assessment of Ms. Coakley. There are many stories about her refusal to prosecute or even investigate ‘protected’ groups like police, prison guards and staff. Cambridge folks can tell you how she protected her husbands buddies, Cambridge cops, against accusations of great brutality.
She warned supporters of the Somwerville High School 5, young Black youth who’d were assaulted by Medford cops to keep quiet. She was able to get a prominent Boston minister to back down. The boys were members of his church. Not long afterward, it seems the Reverend was rewarded with a position on Deval Patrick’s public safety advisors. You’d know his name.
She refused to investigate a major three day planned “shake-down” of the entire camp at MCI-Shirley in October 2000. Months later men still had bruises and contusions. Nothing was found except previously approved steel-toed boots. The Tactical Team, with “Colonel” Eugene Marsolais at the helm, were outfitted in total body armor with face masks and helmets. These storm troopers used dogs, gas and pepper spray to surprise the sleeping prisoners, block by block. Not surprisingly, most of the injured were Black, Latino, non-English speakers and the disabled. Several Muslims were kicked and called “Sand N–gg—.” My brother, blind, was deliberately injured and thrown to the ground.
Despite prodding from several legsilators who documented the prisoners’ injuries and calls/letters from family members like me, Coakley refused to do anything. In a strange response to me at the State House she said, “Well, I used to worry that my brother would hurt somebody too. But instead, he killed himself. ” !!! All spoken in a quiet monotone. It was creep.
Purely my IMHO – you can not make the choice. Good luck, think about it..