The John Adams Courthouse in Boston, home of the state s Supreme Judicial Court. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is sending a strong message about how courts should consider prisoners requests for release because of the coronavirus pandemic. In a ruling involving two prisoners, the high court explicitly says the risk of the virus needs to weigh heavily in decisions about releasing those sentenced and appealing their convictions. The SJC approved both prisoners requests for stays of their sentences. We transferred the cases here so that we could address a variety of issues concerning stays of sentences pending appeal, including, among others, the important and recurring question of how judges who are faced with requests for stays ought to weigh the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor in determining whether a stay is appropriate in any given case, Justice Elspeth Cypher wrote in the ruling.