Massachusetts judge dismisses more than 120 cases due to lack of public defenders

More than 120 cases, including some for assault on family members and police, were dismissed recently in Boston, the latest fallout from a monthslong dispute over pay that has led public defenders to stop taking new clients, reported The Associated Press.

At a mostly empty courtroom, Boston Municipal Court Chief Justice Tracy-Lee Lyons invoked the Lavallee protocol in dismissing case after case. It requires cases be dropped if a defendant hasn’t had an attorney for 45 days and released from custody if they haven’t had one for seven days. Tuesday was the first time it was invoked to drop cases, while suspects in custody have been released in recent weeks.

Most were for minor crimes like shoplifting, drug possession and motor vehicle violations.

But several involved cases of assault on police officers and domestic violence. One suspect allegedly punched his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach and slapped her in the face. Another case involved a woman who was allegedly assaulted by the father of her child, who threatened to kill her and tried to strangle her. A third case involved a suspect who allegedly hit a police officer and threated to shoot him.

The judge, repeatedly invoking the Lavallee protocol, dismissed almost all of the cases after being convinced public defenders had made a good-faith effort to find the defendants an attorney. No defendants were in court to hear their cases being dismissed.

“This case will be dismissed without prejudice,” Lyons said repeatedly, noting that all fines and fees would be waived.

Frustration from prosecutors over dropped cases

Prosecutors unsuccessfully objected to the dismissal of many of the cases, especially the most serious being dismissed.

“The case dismissals today, with many more expected in coming days and weeks, present a clear and continuing threat to public safety,” James Borghesani, a spokesperson for the Suffolk County district attorney’s office, said in a statement. They vowed to re-prosecute all the cases.

“Our prosecutors and victim witness advocates are working extremely hard to keep victims and other impacted persons updated on what’s happening with their cases,” he continued. “These are difficult conversations. We remain hopeful that a structural solution will be found to address the causal issues here and prevent any repeat.”

Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, speaking to reporters in Fall River, said the situation needed to be resolved.

“This is a public safety issue and also a due process issue as people need representation,” she said. “I know the parties are talking. They have got to find a way to work this out. We need lawyers in court ... and certainly they need to be paid fairly.”

Dispute revolves around pay

Public defenders, who argue they are the lowest paid in New England, launched a work stoppage at the end of May in hopes of pressuring the legislature to increase their hourly pay. The state agency representing public defenders had proposed a pay increase from $65 an hour to $73 an hour over the next two fiscal years for lawyers in district court, an increase from $85 an hour to $105 an hour for lawyers in Superior Court and $120 an hour to $150 an hour for lawyers handling murder cases.

But the 2026 fiscal year budget of $60.9 billion signed early this month by Healey didn’t include any increase.

“The dismissal of cases today under the Lavallee protocols is what needs to be done for those individuals charged with crimes but with no lawyer to vindicate their constitution rights,” said Shira Diner, a lecturer at the Boston University School of Law and the immediate past president of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “It is, however, not a solution to the deep crisis of inadequate pay for bar advocates. Until there are enough qualified lawyers in courts to fulfill the constitutional obligation of the right to counsel this crisis will only intensify.”

The pay of public defenders is a national issue

Massachusetts is the latest state struggling to adequately fund its public defender system.

In New York City, legal aid attorneys are demanding better pay and working conditions. Earlier this month, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a two-year state budget into law that increases the pay of public defenders and district attorneys in each of the next two years. That comes after the Legislature in 2023 also increased the pay to address rising caseloads, high turnover and low salaries.

Public defenders in Minnesota averted a walkout in 2022 that threatened to bring the court system to a standstill. A year later, the legislature came up with more funding for the state Board of Public Defense so it could meet what the American Bar Association recommends for manageable caseload standards.

Oregon, meanwhile, has struggled for years with a critical shortage of court-provided attorneys for low-income defendants. As of Tuesday, nearly 3,500 defendants did not have a public defender, a dashboard from the Oregon Judicial Department showed. Of those, about 143 people were in custody, some for longer than seven days.

Amid the state’s public defense crisis, lawmakers last month approved over $2 million for defense attorneys to take more caseloads in the counties most affected by the shortage and over $3 million for Oregon law schools to train and supervise law students to take on misdemeanor cases.

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