Endorsed and On Strike!

Thanks to SEIU Local 888 not only for their endorsement of my campaign, but for their leadership on the ongoing Public Defender labor action.

If you haven't heard, Massachusetts' Public Defenders are (still) on strike.

Massachusetts, like many states, relies heavily on private attorneys (i.e., lawyers with their own law firms) to handle the majority of public criminal defense cases (where the defendant cannot afford an attorney and is appointed one by the state). These attorneys are called "Bar Advocates," and I count myself among their ranks, representing clients in Cambridge and Malden District Courts.

Massachusetts bar advocates went on strike on Memorial Day of this year. We are among the lowest paid bar advocates (with hourly rates 50% lower than Maine, Rhode Island, and much lower than New York), despite having one of the highest costs of living in the country. Predictably, this has led to attrition and a lack of new lawyers joining the criminal defense bar. Even before the strike, there were lawyer shortages and case backlogs. Our decision to strike was made not just to support ourselves, but the entire criminal defense system in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Legislature, which controls bar advocate pay, is squarely to blame. They've refused to give us an adequate raise: we demanded a $35/hour raise to catch up with years of inflation and to bring us to the lower end of other New England pay rates, but were only granted a $10 raise this year. The State House also tacked on an "antitrust" provision to this meager raise, signaling that a bar advocate who strikes in the future for higher pay could be subject to antimonopolist penalties.

Because I'm sure when people think of public defenders, they think rich monopolist.

So, needless to say, the bar advocates told the legislators "no thanks" and the strike continues on. This was never a negotiation. We weren't setting our first bid high and hoping to whittle down to an agreeable sum. We are striking to save our profession and protect the public's right to competent criminal defense.

Case Dismissed

There are now thousands of criminal defendants across Massachusetts who do not have a lawyer; several of them are sitting in jail. This is a constitutional crisis, as you have a Sixth Amendment right to a lawyer and a speedy trial. If you do not have a lawyer representing you, you cannot have a fair trial, and as the clock ticks your right to a speedy trial is implicated. Thus, the Massachusetts courts have initiated the Lavallee Protocol, which requires that unrepresented criminal defendants be brought before a judge for possible dismissal of their charges.

According to recent reporting, more than 500 accused criminal defendants have seen their cases thrown out since May. Even though criminal defense attorneys want what is best for their clients (which may be dismissal) we also want what is best for society and the ideals of justice. Having cases thrown out undermines faith in the criminal justice system and threatens the safety of everyone.

Given the context of the Trump Administration's push towards fascism, with his masked personal army ICE thugs running around harassing and detaining brown and Black people, now is not the time for Governor Maura Healey to back away from our Commonwealth's ideals of liberty and justice. So far, she has shown a lack of leadership on the Bar Advocate strike. I truly hope she changes her tune when the Legislature returns to session this Fall.

Check out SEIU Local 888 President Tom McKeever's take on the strike here: "​Massachusetts Can't Fix Public Defense Without Fixing How We Treat Public Defenders"

Or: How I Learned to Love Unions

I've always been pro-labor and unions are important to my family. My mom is president of her school system teacher's union in Maine and my uncle is a union field representative in Rhode Island. But taking part in a labor action like the Bar Advocate strike made it personal for me, and gave experience I could only get first hand: the sacrifice, the debate with colleagues, the pressure to hold the line, the solidarity. Strikes get headlines and picket lines are highly visible, but a lot of striking is just doing nothing. Refraining from your work. What you trained for years to do. It's a weird feeling, sitting idle for a cause.

On the disability side of my law practice, I talk with a lot of clients who suffer depression. One of the main drivers is the loss of their vocation. Americans, for better or worse, often define our lives by our profession. In today's economy, that profession can vanish seemingly in an instant: a diagnosis, an injury, a prolonged strike, a layoff, macroeconomics, a new technology, a presidential whim, an ICE raid.

We profess the virtues of hard work yet we make it so hard to work.

That's why unions are so important in America today. They're not perfect (they're made up of humans, after all) but they're a port in a storm of economic, technological, and political winds. They're a unifying force. A group that says "you're part of a larger thing, not a cog in a machine." You're a person with skills and experience and inherent value, not a line on a spreadsheet waiting to be replaced by AI.

We need unions now more than ever. And though a former corporate lawyer-turned-Bar Advocate may not be the most likely messenger, here's to solidarity. Forever.

Lend a Hand

We have a few meet-and-greets teed up! Thank you to those who have offered. The dance card still has plenty of space! Please let me know if you want me to meet your neighbors; the campaign can provide snacks. Door knockers always welcome, too.

And as always, campaign donations help buy more stamps and signs:

- Ned

​www.ned4cambridge.com​