BOSTON (WHDH) - The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Friday ruled in favor of releasing some pre-trial inmates due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The ruling was handed down after the state criminal defense bar presented arguments earlier this week seeking the release of vulnerable inmates who could become infected with the potentially deadly virus and those who don’t pose a threat to the public.
Inmates who are being held on bail and aren’t facing certain serious offenses are entitled to a “rebuttable presumption of release” unless prosecutors can prove they pose an “unreasonable” danger to the community or flight risk, the state’s highest court ruled.
“These categories of pretrial detainees shall be ordered released on personal recognizance unless the Commonwealth establishes, by a preponderance of the evidence, that release would result in an unreasonable danger to the community or that the individual presents a very high risk of flight,” the Supreme Court justices wrote of their ruling.
The justices added that video or teleconference hearings will be held to consider individual detainee’s request for release
Those facing allegations of murder, manslaughter, crimes using physical force, rape, indecent assault, domestic violence, and assault and battery will not be eligible for release.
“It’s a win for district attorneys in Massachusetts,” Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn told 7NEWS. “It’s a win for victims and society in general that they denied the mass release of thousands of dangerous defendants.”
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachel Rollins issued the follow statement on Saturday: “This ruling allows my office to continue to protect both the public and victims while providing critical relief for pre-trial detainees who are non-violent and do not represent a risk to public safety or flight. They now have the opportunity to be released on their recognizance before they stand trial for the crimes they have only been accused of.”
Chauncey Wood, of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, added, “Every single person who is held pre-trial is evaluated for dangerousness. Everybody who has a cash bail in Massachusetts has already been determined to not be dangerous.”
Thousands of inmates could be back on the streets as early as next week.
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