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| Mass. DOC drops proposal rule change for law students |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/22/2003 |
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All law students can represent state prison inmates in disciplinary hearings, the interim head of the Mass. Department of Corrections said, scrapping a rule change proposed by her predecessor. Acting DOC Commissioner Kathleen M. Dennehy replaced Michael T. Maloney, who stepped down last month amid criticism that followed the prison murder of defrocked priest John J. Geoghan. Dennehy sent a letter to law schools and others on Dec. 4 saying the department had dropped a proposal to exclude first- and second-year law students from representing inmates during disciplinary hearings. "I recognize the important role that law students play in this process, and understand that they help to ensure effective representation for an inmate, which serves everyone's interest,'' she wrote. Maloney had proposed changing department rules to conform with a Supreme Judicial Court order from the 1980s, which said only third- and fourth- year students could represent inmates. The decision mainly affects Harvard Law School students who work with inmates through the school's Prison Legal Assistance Project, as well as students from Northeastern University School of Law and Suffolk University Law School, DOC spokesman Justin Latini said. PLAP supervising attorney John D. Fitzpatrick said he was ``very gratified that acting Commissioner Dennehy was receptive and responsive to our concerns.'' |
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