Massachusetts’ highest court has initiated an emergency protocol that could see many indigent criminal defendants in Middlesex and Suffolk county courts released from jail or their cases dropped.

Massachusetts' highest court is imposing a legal protocol that could result in hundreds of criminal defendants being set free ...

E. coli or enterococci, which indicate fecal matter contaminating water, were detected at swim spots in New York state, ...

The growing fallout from a public defender work stoppage could now set criminal defendants free across Massachusetts.

Many court-appointed attorneys have stopped taking on new clients as they fight for higher pay rates from the state.

This story was updated at 5:15 p.m. on July 3, 2025 to include comment from Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz. A single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday initiated a ...

Health officials issue warnings as bacteria and stormwater runoff contaminate beaches nationwide, closing popular swimming ...

Declaring a “systemic violation” of constitutional rights, Massachusetts’ highest court on Thursday ordered trial courts in ...

A Supreme Judicial Court judge is weighing whether to trigger a protocol that could temporarily set free more than two dozen criminal defendants currently being held, as some public defenders refuse ...

A sergeant at the Boston Police Department appeared in court to face child rape charges on Monday. Paul Downey, 58, of West ...

Massachusetts bar advocate strike causes chaos in the criminal legal system. Defendants without lawyers may be released or ...