Researchers Find Racial Disparities Across Court System: Patch PM

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 9. Here are some of the top stories we are covering.

Black and Latino defendants in Massachusetts are more likely than white defendants to be locked up for drug and weapons offenses and get longer sentences than white people sent to prison for similar crimes, researchers at Harvard Law School said in a report released Wednesday.

In a yearslong study sought by the chief justice of Massachusetts' highest court, Harvard researchers found significant racial disparities in the handling of weapons and drug cases, crimes they noted "carry longstanding racialized stigmas." The disparities remain even "after controlling for charge severity and additional factors," according to the report from the law school's Criminal Justice Policy Program.

The researchers found that racial disparities in the length of sentences are driven largely by the fact that that Black and Latino defendants tend to face more serious initial charges than white defendants. That puts Black and Latino defendants at risk of harsher punishments and can influence their decisions in plea negotiations, they wrote.

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Other top stories

Andover Teachers Union Staged Illegal Strike: State Labor Board

The Andover teachers union undertook an illegal strike when teachers refused to enter school buildings for the first day of professional development, Aug. 31, the state labor relations board found Tuesday.

While the union did not refer to its action as a strike and participants did not refuse to work, the board found that a refusal to enter school buildings constituted a strike.

"The Union cites to no legislation, permission, reasonable accommodation or bargained-for agreement that permitted its members without consequence, to unilaterally dictate where they perform their work," the board wrote. "Section 1 of the Law defines a strike not only as a full or partial refusal to perform duties of employment but as a public employee's refusal 'in concerted action with others, to report for duty.'"

'Back The Blue' Organizers Deny Affiliation With Hate Group

The organizers of a pro-police rally in Arlington have disavowed any affiliation with a hate group, Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine said Wednesday. Town leaders had expressed concern over the "Back the Blue" demonstration, given what they believed to be a connection between the organizers and a controversial group known as "Act for America."

The organization has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. Chapdelaine said he hopes drawing a distinction between rally organizers and "Act for America" will result in a peaceful demonstration Thursday.

"I'd further add that the group organizing Thursday's event may want to reconsider operating under a name that is nearly identical to the name of a hate group," Chapdelaine said. "In this world of 'dog whistles' and virtue signaling, we all need to be careful with our words if we want our messages to be heard clearly."

Eurie Stamps Investigation Files Released By Middlesex DA

The Middlesex District Attorney's Office on Wednesday released a trove of documents related to the 2011 police killing of Framingham resident Eurie Stamps. The release comes after the DA's office pledged to take a fresh look at the case.

The release includes over 400 pages detailing everything from photos of Stamps' home after the shooting to interviews with the officers involved. The documents were previously released as part of court cases, but the DA's office said it is "in the process of identifying and assembling additional documents that may be available relative to the death of Eurie Stamps Sr."

Stamps died in January 2011 after the SWAT team raided his Fountain Street home during a drug investigation. Stamps was lying on his stomach when officer Paul Duncan apparently tripped and fired the fatal shot, according to documents.

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