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The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday ruled that a person’s privacy rights do not prevent law enforcement from obtaining and using their text messages as evidence in a trial. The justices unanimously ruled that a lower court erred in siding with a Massachusetts man who sought to block a search of his text messages. The man, Jorge Delgado-Rivera, was charged with six others in a drug trafficking case. Justice Frank Gaziano wrote on behalf of the justices Tuesday that the defendant had “no reasonable expectation of privacy in the sent text messages because, as with some other forms of written communication, delivery created a memorialized record of the communication that was beyond the control of the sender.” ....
The state’s highest court unanimously extended the existing legal principle that a letter writer loses privacy rights by dropping it in the mail just like someone hitting send on their phone. ....
The case asks Massachusetts justices to balance family values, constitutional rights and a confusing new law. Plexiglas shields the courtroom witness stand in the Southern District of New York’s Daniel Moynihan Courthouse part of a remodel with public health in mind for reopening the courthouse during the coronavirus pandemic. (Courthouse News photo/Adam Klasfeld) BOSTON (CN) The Massachusetts Supreme Court struggled Friday to figure out when a parent can be called to testify if their child is accused of a crime. Three years ago Massachusetts became the fifth state in the country to adopt a rule that parents don’t have to testify against their minor children. But prosecutors are now trying to turn the law around and use it against juvenile defendants, by saying the law prohibits ....
An inmates stands in a cell inside one of Massachusetts county jails. (Jesse Costa/WBUR) With zero coronavirus cases now reported in Massachusetts prisons, the state s highest court is reviewing whether the virus should still be considered when a prisoner requests release. The SJC heard arguments Wednesday in a case that asks whether a judge should take into account if a prisoner has had COVID-19 or has been vaccinated. The case involves 59-year-old William McDermott, who is seeking a stay of his sentence. He s been in prison since his 1982 conviction on murder charges. Other court rulings suggest that because McDermott had COVID, and has been vaccinated, judges do not have to consider the virus in reviewing requests for a stay of sentence. But McDermott s attorney Hayne Barnwell said there is still uncertainty about the long term benefits of the vaccine and the risks to clients like hers who have underlying health issues. ....
BOSTON â Gov. Charlie Baker s extensive, executive order-fueled pandemic response is justifiable under state law and did not violate the constitutional rights of businesses and organizations affected by mandatory shutdowns, the state s highest court ruled Thursday. Six months after the New Civil Liberties Alliance sued Massachusetts on behalf of business owners and religious institutions, the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the Baker administration s emergency actions, concluding that the governor acted within the emergency powers afforded to governors under a 1950 law. The consequential decision allows the state s COVID-19 strategy to continue along its current trajectory, avoiding a sudden and dramatic shift in how leaders approach the public health emergency amid rapid transmission of the highly infectious virus and dwindling hospital capacity. ....