For Baker, the Mass. vaccine rollout has gone from political nightmare to point of pride. Still, racial inequities continue
By Emma Platoff Globe Staff,Updated May 11, 2021, 7:12 p.m.
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Governor Charlie Baker.Matt Stone/pool
Once theyâd wrapped up the baseball banter, President Biden had a clear message for Governor Charlie Baker.
âYouâre doing a hell of a job,â Biden told the second-term Republican on Tuesday afternoon, at a virtual meeting on the vaccine rollout with five other governors. âI hope that doesnât ruin your reputation coming from a Democrat.â
That high praise from the nationâs highest office was the latest indication that the Massachusetts vaccine rollout, once a source of political pain for Baker, has become a point of pride. As the state maintains its spot near the top of national rankings for percentage of population vaccinated, critics who were at Bakerâs throat earlier this year have changed their t
The Massachusetts State House. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Pointing to high-profile legal cases that resulted in dropped or reduced charges, lawmakers and parents on Monday renewed their push for legislation that would impose new oversight requirements on the chief medical examiner in cases involving the death of a young child.
Supporters pressed for passage of legislation that would make any autopsy findings involving children younger than two years old, plus all subsequent revisions to the autopsy report, subject to personal review and approval by the chief medical examiner.
Sen. Cindy Friedman, one of the bill s authors, told the Joint Committee on Public Health that involving the state s top investigator for suspicious or unexplained deaths in those reports would create more certainty and ensure accountability in emotionally fraught cases.
BOSTON Pointing to high-profile legal cases that resulted in dropped or reduced charges, lawmakers and parents have renewed their push for legislation that would impose new oversight requirements on
A Truro Democrat on Friday pushed members of a new commission studying qualified immunity to reach out and listen to a diverse set of voices, saying the.
Rep. Michael Day, who leads the commission alongside Sen. Jamie Eldridge, said members can look to include a diverse range of voices when selecting who will offer presentations to the commission. I do want to underscore that we re going to be very deliberate and conscious and making sure that every voice is heard by the commission, Day said. I think some of that can come out in our presentations that we choose to request. But certainly, the intent here is to be fully transparent and welcoming to the public for their feedback and thoughts.
By any measure, qualified immunity is a difficult and complex topic to understand unless years are spent studying the subject. To that extent, commissioners decided to invite a legal scholar or expert to their next meeting at the end of May to present on the origins of the doctrine and discuss how it evolved over the years.