In the Pandemic, Only the Rich Get a Safety Net

JOSEPH MARGULIES

Cornell law professor Joseph Margulies debunks the notion that the poor are poor because they are lazy, while the rich are rich because they are industrious. Margulies distinguishes the stock market, in which 84 percent of all stocks owned by Americans are held by the wealthiest ten percent of American households, from the general economy and point out that for the poorest half of Americans—roughly 160 million people—the stock market is meaningless.

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Ardaneh v. Commonwealth

Docket: SJC-12852

Opinion Date: October 23, 2020

Judge: Per Curiam

Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Health Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the single justice of the Court denying Petitioner's petition pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3, holding that the single justice did not err or abuse his discretion in denying relief. Petitioner was indicted on several counts of rape and one count of strangulation or suffocation. Petitioner was committed for observation to Bridgewater State Hospital for a determination whether he was competent to stand trial. Petitioner was found incompetent to stand trial and committed to the hospital pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 123, 16. Petitioner, who remains in the hospital, filed a Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3 petition claiming, among other things, that his constitutional rights had been violated. The single justice denied the petition without a hearing. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that Petitioner had an adequate alternative remedy and that his claims did not present a situation warranting extraordinary superintendence relief pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3.

Commonwealth v. Nieves

Docket: SJC-12906

Opinion Date: October 23, 2020

Judge: Per Curiam

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order of the superior court denying Appellant's motion for refund of parole supervision fees she paid while on parole, holding that Appellant was entitled to return of the parole fees she paid. Appellant's convictions were vacated and the charges against her dismissed with prejudice due to the misconduct of Annie Dookhan, a chemist at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute. Appellant subsequently filed a motion in her criminal case seeking a refund of the parole supervision fees that she had paid as a result of her invalidated convictions and a waiver of the remaining balance she owed. The superior court denied the motion, concluding that a motion filed in the criminal case was not the correct way to seek a refund of parole fees. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment, holding (1) Appellant was entitled to a return of her previously paid parole fees; and (2) Appellant correctly filed her motion for a refund in the same criminal case in which her convictions had been invalidated.