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SJC Strikes Down State Anti-Panhandling Law as Unconstitutional

In a landmark decision published last week, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless v. Fall River, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) struck down G.L.c. 85, § 17A (often referred to as the anti-panhandling law) as an unconstitutional restriction on protected speech. This decision was hailed as a victory by community…

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ZDB is Hiring!

Boston Criminal Defense & Civil Litigation Firm Paralegal/Legal Assistant Position We are a fourteen-lawyer firm located in the North End/Waterfront of Boston, with an interesting, varied, fast-paced practice in criminal defense and civil litigation (including employment, students’ rights, and other academic cases). We seek a motivated Paralegal/Legal Assistant with a strong…

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What Are Your Job Protections as a Parent or Caregiver During COVID-19?

By Lilly Gill, Law Student Intern The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the relationships between employment, education, and family life as parents are juggling having their children home in remote education or otherwise having limited childcare, and other caregivers have needed to take care of elderly parents or disabled or…

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Appeals Court Protects the Rights of Individuals in Interrogations Against Coercive Police Conduct

Recently, in Commonwealth v. Davis, the Massachusetts Appeals Court determined that Massachusetts State Police officers coerced an individual to waive his Miranda rights when they arrested him after he attempted to exercise his constitutional right to counsel during an interrogation. Facts Mr. Davis, who was cooperating with the Commonwealth in…

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Supreme Judicial Court Permits State Licensing Boards to Consider Sealed Criminal Records During Disciplinary Proceedings

By: Amanda Gordon, Legal Intern In Massachusetts, in limited circumstances a person’s criminal records can be available to a licensing board or prospective employer. However, there remains a societal responsibility to ensure that criminal charges do not unfairly stigmatize or disadvantage defendants who have served their sentence or were never…

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Thinking About Participating in a COVID-19 School or Childcare Pod? Here’s What You Should Know as a Massachusetts Employer or Employee.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents are exploring new arrangements for education and childcare for their children. Families who can afford to are creating “micro-schools” or “school pods”—groups of a few families with similar-aged children who hire a teacher to provide lessons in the families’ homes. Others are simply…

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Will Bifurcating Sexual Misconduct Processes Help Schools Comply with Title IX?

As schools revamp their Title IX policies by August 14 to comply with the recently-enacted federal regulations, information about how those policies might look is starting to come to light. In recent weeks, a number of schools have made clear that—as my colleague predicted when the regulations came out—while they…

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Supreme Judicial Court Extends Pre-Trial Detention Time Limits Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

This week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued an opinion in Commonwealth v. Lougee holding that its orders delaying trials due to COVID-19 allow the Commonwealth to hold defendants pre-trial beyond time limits set by statute. The decision applies to pre-trial detainees being held either on grounds of dangerousness…

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U.S. Department of Education’s New Position on Transgender Athletes is a Radical Departure from Prior Interpretations of Title IX

Last month, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) issued a letter to the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) and a number of Connecticut schools notifying them that their policy allowing transgender student athletes to play sports on the team that corresponds with their gender violates Title IX, and giving them…