The Supreme Judicial Court’s October 10, 2014 decision in Glovsky v. Roche Bros. Supermarkets, Inc., is now the high-water mark in Massachusetts for the right to access private property, over the objection of the property owner, in order to fulfill a constitutional right. The decision addresses the right of a…
Boston Lawyer Blog
An Overview of the Department of Education’s New Rules Implementing the Clery Act
Last week the Federal Department of Education released amendments to the rules implementing the Clery Act (20 U.S.C. § 1092(f)) – a law that requires colleges and universities to record and publish information about crime on and near their campuses. The new amendments require schools to collect and publish statistics regarding incidents…
So You’ve Been Accused of Sexual Assault or Misconduct on Campus. Here’s What You Need to Know
Colleges, universities, and graduate schools have had a reputation for not taking students’ complaints of sexual misconduct seriously. School disciplinary systems that were set up to deal with cheating, plagiarism, and more “academic” misconduct are ill equipped to deal with the complexities of interpersonal relationships that often come into play…
Old Wine in a New Bottle: Supreme Judicial Court Decision Reiterates Broad Scope of Fifth Amendment Protection
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) on Friday, October 10, 2014 decided Commonwealth v. Jason LeClair, No. SJC-11469, a Fifth Amendment case. It did not make new law but reiterated that the scope of the Fifth Amendment privilege is broad and liberally construed, something that many lawyers, including prosecutors, and…
Inga Bernstein and Rachel Stroup clear police officer of all charges
Inga Bernstein and Rachel Stroup prevailed in a Boston Police Department appointing authority hearing, in which the department sought to discipline a police officer. The officer was cleared of all charges.