I’m just sort of passing this along. It’s a fascinating case covered at this post on Above the Law.
The Massachusetts Supreme Court is about to decide whether a convicted defendant who is black is entitled to a new trial because his public defender was a rabid racist.
The issue under debate is whether a public defender’s bigotry, evidenced by 20 racist social media posts that he made while representing his client, constitutes a conflict of interest. That would grant the defendant an automatic new trial, without having to pinpoint specific ways in which his attorney’s representation impacted his case.
Based on the questions from the judges that the post quotes, I’m guessing the court is going to do the right thing, though it may open a colossal can of worms. The lawyer in question was a public defender who represented more than 6,000 defendants in his career. Given certain realities, which of course by no means demonstrate systemic racism in our society (we are not Woke!) it is a sure thing that a hefty percentage of those defendants were black. If the court rules in favor of the individual in question, it would seem to follow as the night the day that all those other defendants deserve new trials as well.
Personally, I can see no way for the court to logically rule against the guy, and given that we’re talking about Massachusetts, I’d bet he will win. I’m sure, however, that courts in other states (and the feds, of course) will find a way to rule the other way should the issue come their way.
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