In what some are calling a pivotal step for juvenile justice, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Thursday that around 70 inmates could soon be lining up for parole. This follows a landmark decision by the state's highest court that's shaken up the Massachusetts prison system. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that automatically locking up murderers for life without parole is unconstitutional if they were 20 years old or younger when they committed the crime.
The court's Mattis and Robinson decisions mean that those who were just barely out of their teens when they made decisions that cost them their freedom will now be able to possibly win it back. However, don't start to think these inmates just have to ask for their freedom back. According to Hayden, they have "eventually" become eligible for parole. But they still got to go through the wringer of the state's Parole Board – no promises made, no sentences automatically slashed.
This ruling is retroactive, changing the game for many who thought they were down for the count. Yet, for those offenders who were a day over 20 when they committed their crimes, the status quo remains the same - no such luck for them, the doors remain closed.
"We know this decision will generate questions among the survivors of homicide victims of both the immediate and distant past, and we want to surely make sure that those survivors get accurate information about the ruling," Hayden stated. The Suffolk DA's office is proactive, with victim witness advocates ready to field questions and provide guidance. Hayden encourages survivors to touch base with his office via their website, where they can find a helping hand and more details on the recent court decision.
The information was not just a call to inmates but also a heads-up to survivors, whose worlds turned upside down by a knock on the door or a call in the night. Many survivors have long since changed contact information, leaving Hayden's office to extend an open invite: "I’m urging anyone impacted by this decision to contact us so we can provide the information necessary to understand what this ruling does and does not do," Hayden told www.suffolkdistrictattorney.com.
