NEWS ARTICLE from COMMONWEALTH MAGAZINE daily email:
"Berkshire DA under fire for dangerousness hearings"
By Bruce Mohl – CommonWealth editor - May 20, 2021
Two years ago, shortly after she was elected district attorney in Berkshire County, Andrea Harrington said she was going to sharply curtail the use of cash bail.
“A cash bail system is basically un-American,” she said on WGBY-TV’s Connecting Point. “It’s discriminatory against people who are impoverished. Two people accused of the same crime with the same kind of evidence – if one person can come up with $500 to be released pre-trial and the other person cannot because of their financial circumstances, to me that’s clearly inequitable and it’s not fair and it really doesn’t keep our community safe.”
In that same interview, Harrington also made clear that if her office felt a defendant was a danger to the community or to someone in the community it would present evidence of that danger to a judge and seek to hold the person that way.
“That way we’re able to distinguish between people who should be behind bars because they’re dangerous and people who are innocent until proven guilty,” she said.
Harrington appears to have followed through on her pledge. Defendants today are rarely being held on bail, but now advocates and defense attorneys are accusing her of using dangerousness hearings to lock their clients up prior to a trial.
In separate reports by New England Public Media and the Berkshire Eagle, the defense attorneys and advocates suggest Harrington has substituted one discriminatory practice for another. While bail hearings are way down, the number of dangerousness hearings has increased dramatically – tripling in District Court and rising fivefold in Superior Court, according to the reports.
“It doesn’t get much more of an infringement on civil liberties,” defense attorney Michael Hinkley told New England Public Media. “That is, people are being held by the government. They haven’t been found guilty, they haven’t been adjudicated guilty and — in some cases — they’ve been held longer than the law allows given the pandemic.”
If a defendant is declared dangerous, he or she can be held for 120 days in District Court cases and 180 days in Superior Court cases – and even longer during COVID.
It’s quite possible that dangerousness hearings went up in Berkshire County when bail hearings went down because prosecutors – and judges – were implementing bail improperly previously. In a 2017 decision on a bail issue, the Supreme Judicial Court was critical of prosecutors for incorporating claims about the defendant’s dangerousness into a request for bail.
“Using unattainable bail to detain a defendant because he is dangerous is improper,” the court held. “If the Commonwealth wishes to have a defendant held pretrial because he poses a danger to another person or the community, it must proceed under the [statute dealing with dangerousness.]”
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"Amid explosion of dangerousness hearings, data elusive for effect on poor, people of color"
Heather Bellow and Amanda Burke, The Berkshire Eagle, May 19, 2021
PITTSFIELD — Andrea Harrington campaigned for Berkshire District Attorney on a platform of criminal justice reform, promising to eliminate a cash bail system that she said kept too many people behind bars simply because they couldn’t pay bond.
Two and a half years into her first term, Harrington has largely lived up to that promise — defendants in criminal cases are now rarely held on bail. But in its place, Harrington’s office has greatly expanded its use of another tool — dangerousness hearings, which can keep a person accused of a crime in jail for months if a judge finds them to be a danger to the community.
In 2018, the year before Harrington took office, there were just 53 dangerousness hearings in Berkshire County’s three district courts, according to state trial court data. Last year, there were 151, nearly a threefold increase. Superior Court data from those same years shows a similar trend, with seven dangerousness hearings in 2018 and 34 in 2021. Hearings for juveniles also jumped, from zero to six last year, and so far, 2021 has seen two.
Harrington, who declined to be interviewed for this story but issued a statement Wednesday through her communications director, said the majority of requests for dangerousness hearings are made “in serious domestic violence cases because the most dangerous time for a victim is in the period following a court appearance.”
While many former prosecutors and other local attorneys agree with Harrington’s decision to move away from a cash bail system, they argue the increased use of dangerous hearings is hurting the very people she set out to help — those on the fringes of society.
Attorney Jedd Hall, a former prosecutor with the Berkshire DA’s Office under the previous administration, then under Harrington for seven months in 2019 before resigning, suffers when he has to tell clients facing a “dangerousness hearing” in court that they could be jailed for months with no chance of bail.
“It’s the young guys,” he said. “Usually they say, ‘Oh my god, I have a job interview tomorrow or I’ve been employed there for six years, or I have kids at home.’ There’s a look of disbelief in their eyes.”
Hall said the increase in dangerousness hearings in Berkshire County is “stunning.” A dangerousness ruling reduces his ability to keep his clients out of jail while they’re awaiting trial.
“Often it seems to be a perfect storm of drug and alcohol abuse and mental health issues, and there’s no other reasonable solution that the commonwealth would consider,” Hall said.
Hall finds the surge in dangerousness hearings “antithetical to the ideology of, ‘We want to keep poor people out of jail and let them work.’”
Under the state’s dangerousness statute, prosecutors may petition for a dangerousness hearing, also known as a 58A hearing, when they believe a defendant is too dangerous to the community at large or to their alleged victim to be released before trial. If found to be a danger by a judge, the judge can order the defendant held in custody for up to 120 days in district courts, and up to 180 days in superior courts.
Spike in hearings
So far in 2021, there have already been 125 dangerousness hearings in Berkshire County’s three district courts and 28 hearings in Superior Court.
The number of dangerousness hearings in the Berkshires last year is comparable to that of Norfolk County, which — with more than 700,000 people — has a population more than five times the size of Berkshire County. Pittsfield’s 58A hearing count in 2020 was more than that of two Boston metro areas, as well as one in neighboring Hampden County, for instance.
In other places in the state, the hearings are also increasing. Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration is also looking to expand the state’s ability to hold defendants using the statute.
Edward St. John, an attorney in Adams, said dangerousness hearings can interfere with a defendant’s due process.
“It becomes very difficult to engage them in their defense,” he said. “You can talk to them at the jail, but for me over the years, I’ve found it much easier to work with people, and for them, if they aren’t held.”
St. John said in his experience over the last few years, defendants “are more likely to cop a plea, so to speak, to get out, rather than sit there [in jail] indefinitely.” He also believes that holding people declared dangerous by the court is prejudicial to their defense. It’s also harmful, he said, because court delays during the pandemic equate to longer periods of detention.
“I’m seeing an impact now that seems to be more damaging than helpful to the people I represent,” St. John said, noting that defendants are essentially punished before trial in a way that could influence the outcome.
The state’s Supreme Judicial Court ruled in June to extend this jail time for those held on dangerousness while they await trial during the pandemic.
Harrington has said the high court’s ruling “balances public safety and due process.”
“We cannot put victims and the public at an additional risk just because the court delayed jury trials,” she said in a statement at the time.
Effects unclear
Defense attorneys, including some who were afraid to comment publicly out of fear of retribution toward their clients, say that doing away with cash bail is helpful for those who can’t make bail on minor charges. The flip side is that it creates a nearly one-size-fits-all scenario for others, said local defense attorney Robert Sullivan.
“I’m for bail reform,” said Sullivan, who said he is considering a run for Berkshire DA next year. But, dangerousness hearings are “just using a different mechanism [than bail] to hold people and a much more severe way to do it,” he added.
He explained that technically, bail is used to ensure a return to court, not in response to perceived danger. The factors that judges weigh when determining bail are, rather, the seriousness of the charge and a defendant’s flight risk.
The Committee for Public Counsel Services, which represents public defenders across the state, declined to comment on the situation. Robert McGovern, communications director for the CPCS, said committee attorneys “have been reluctant” to speak to the media about the issue in Berkshire County, and said public defenders also would not provide comment to New England Public Media for a radio report aired Wednesday.
Attorneys and reformers say that the increase in hearings signifies a not-so-progressive system. One group outlined concerns.
CourtWatch, a state nonprofit that monitors the courts, said in a 2019 report that Harrington’s increased use of dangerousness hearings is an example of “rhetoric, not reform,” among some of the state’s DAs who promised to eliminate cash bail.
In the Berkshires, the effect of this policy on defendants — including the poor and people of color — is hard for the public to determine. The Eagle has asked Harrington’s office — and the courts — to provide more data, including a defendant’s race and the criminal charges filed against them, even excluding any identifying information, including docket numbers. But the DA’s office denied The Eagle’s records request, claiming it was criminal offender record information and therefore not public.
In a statement, Andrew McKeever, the DA Office’s director of communications, said the office requests a dangerousness hearing in about 3 percent of district court cases.
McKeever also said that the office wants to provide more information, but is struggling with antiquated data systems, that this is a statewide problem, and that the office working on it.
“We are in absolute agreement that the public needs data to know what is truly happening in the justice system but our current systems are inadequate to produce accurate, meaningful, in-depth data,” McKeever said.
The state might release more aggregate data on its website by the end of next week, according to Jennifer Donohue, of the state’s Executive Office of the Trial Court. She said this would include racial data.
One attorney who specializes in First Amendment law said the public is entitled to know detailed information about situations in which citizens are behind bars while still presumed innocent, and that public records law should not prevent release by district attorneys.
“The public records law exists to permit the public to oversee public officials, and the use of the power to seek incarceration based on dangerousness is a tremendous power,” said Jeffrey Pyle, who is based in Boston.
CourtWatch also is seeking more information about how defendants fare. In the NEPM segment, CourtWatch co-founder Peggy Kern said she wanted more information about the charges and the defendants.
Kern told The Eagle that since people of color are disproportionately represented in the court system, CourtWatch wants to know if that trend continues with 58A incarcerations.
“It’s important that the Berkshire County community understands the workings of our court systems,” she said.
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Letter: "Reporting on dangerousness hearings shows Eagle's anti-DA bias"
The Berkshire Eagle May 26, 2021
To the editor:
In response to the article regarding dangerousness hearings, may I say, could The Berkshire Eagle be any more blatant as to their contempt of Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington and her legal polices? ("Amid explosion of dangerousness hearings, data elusive for effect on poor, people of color," Eagle, May 20.)
The Eagle wants Ms. Harrington to reveal some information she has acquired on alleged criminals so The Eagle can print them in their biased reporting to give them more fodder for their compost pile.
The writers and contributing statements in other testimonies tell their apparent lack of knowledge in the suffering of an abuse victim. Until they can also testify what it is like to feel the punches, kicks, bleeding and bruises along with the fear and humiliation endured by the victim and often their children, then they should literally keep their mouths shut. Does The Eagle want the alleged criminal placed out on the streets to perhaps to again attack the victim?
The Berkshire Eagle has from day one tried to demean DA Harrington. Ms. Harrington has done an outstanding job saving our youth from lifetimes of trauma by helping them to correct their mistakes and give them the hope they need to become productive citizens.
DA Harrington has also put into place an entire department to go back in Berkshire County history by contacting past victims of crimes and giving them the ability to lean on her office and her polices to protect them from the crimes they suffered when they weren't given the safety of the Massachusetts Victims Bill of Rights.
Since The Berkshire Eagle states there are now more cases of dangerousness hearings, did it occur to them that since the pandemic broke out more people are under the stress and struggle to survive it physically, financially, mentally and emotionally? DA Harrington has also put forth the ability for people to find the mental health resources they need to guide them through it.
DA Andrea Harrington has broad shoulders to carry beyond her job the necessary suffering of Berkshire County residents. She should be hailed and recognized for all she has done for so many instead of vilified.
Barbara A. Bizzi, Pittsfield
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June 2, 2021
Hello blogger Dan Valenti & your blog readers,
I was watching the national news yesterday (1-June-2021) afternoon, and the news reporters explained that while President Joe Biden has said lofty words about helping the black community, nothing has been done as of yet. That frustrated me because that is what career politicians always do. They always promise everything and say lofty words, but in the end, little to nothing ever gets done in government. I must say that it is not Biden's fault that nothing has gotten done because the U.S. Congress in nearly evenly divided on partisan lines.
On Andrea Harrington, she ran for Massachusetts State Senate in 2016, but she lost to Chrome Dome (Adam Hinds) in the Democratic Party Primary. Two years later, she ran against Paul Caccaviello for Berkshire County District Attorney and won the 2018 election. She has had minor mistakes over the past three-plus-years in her first term, but she has held true to her progressive positions on criminal justice reform. From what I understand from far away from Berkshire County from my perch in Southern New Hampshire, the local police in Berkshire County often butt heads with her office. From my near 3 decades of living in Berkshire County, I saw that it is usually the same poverty-stricken neighborhoods and recidivist residents that make up a majority of criminal offenses in Berkshire County. Similar to poverty, crime is often multigenerational. Pittsfield's social services downtown and Cheshire Road jail has attracted more troubled people and families to live in Berkshire County, while driving away the diminishing middle class families to more affordable and safer localities in other parts of the country.
Lastly, I received an email letter from my pen pal Patrick Fennell of Great Barrington to Chrome Dome (Adam Hinds), who sent him an email letter that he (Chrome Dome/Adam Hinds) voted for the Massachusetts State Senate's fiscal year 2022 state budget. I agree with Patrick Fennell that Chrome Dome/State Senator Adam Hinds is yet another do nothing political hack on Beacon Hill who only does disservices to the people who live in his Western Massachusetts legislative district. Beacon Hill received billions of dollars in Biden Buck$, but it is unclear why so much of the stimulus money from Capitol Hill to Beacon Hill is still largely unspent. Where do all of the billions of dollars actually go to? Chrome Dome/Adam Hinds' first vote on Beacon Hill was for his own huge 40% legislative pay raise, along with all of his other legislative colleagues. Like Trippy Country Buffet/Tricia Farley Bouvier, Chrome Dome/Adam Hinds openly supports raising state taxes, especially on the wealthy, but never offers to cut his own public pay and perks, too. Career politicians are only in it for their own public pay and perks that the taxpayers have to pay for!
Best wishes,
Jonathan Melle
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June 9, 2021
I read both blogger Dan Valenti's blog posting and Berkshire Eagle journalist Amanda Burke's online news article. Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington did not use proper channels in her unprofessional letter of complaints against Judge Jennifer Tyne. The court found Harrington's allegations against Tyne to be without merit. Lawyers in the Berkshire legal community are calling for Andrea Harrington's resignation from the Berkshire DA elected office. Berkshire DA Andrea Harrington stands by her ill advised actions, and she gave no indication of resigning her elected office.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts is plagued by violent crime. I cannot blame the current Mayor, DA, Judges/Courts, Police, Sheriff's Department, and so, for dangerous downtown or inner city Pittsfield because it is a bad situation that is always getting worse and worse as the years go by. Every year for a long time now, the FBI consistently ranks Pittsfield in the top 10 cities in Massachusetts for violent crime. There was a mass shooting incident in downtown Pittsfield during Mayor Bianchi's two terms in elected office. Earlier this year of 2021 a man was shot dead in broad daylight on North Street.
Post industrial Pittsfield has become very economically unequal and dystopian. Pittsfield politics is corrupt and ran by a group of one political party dominated insiders who are really a bunch of provincial state and local political hacks who are mostly disconnected from a majority of working class and underclass Pittsfield residents.
I understand Berkshire DA Andrea Harrington's frustrations with wanting to protect the community, but she shouldn't have taken it out on Judge Jennifer Tyne in an unprofessional expression of indignation at what Pittsfield has become in terms of violent crime, drugs, mental illness, homelessness, and so many poor people living at the edges of society.
- Jonathan Melle
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"Berkshire district attorney tried to unseat a judge she called a public safety 'threat.' Her bid failed."
By Amanda Burke, The Berkshire Eagle, June 8, 2021
PITTSFIELD — Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington took an unusual step last month: She called the judge who regularly presides over her district court cases a “significant threat to public safety” and asked Judge Jennifer Tyne’s bosses to remove her from the bench.
In the end, Harrington’s bid to oust Tyne failed when, on Monday, the chief justice of the district court system said he could find “no factual basis” to back the district attorney’s allegations against the judge, claims that ranged from “dangerous rulings” to “hostile treatment of victims and prosecutors” in the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office.
Instead, Paul C. Dawley, the chief justice who investigated Harrington’s claims, praised Tyne’s “careful and thoughtful analysis” and called her rulings “properly within the bounds of lawful judicial discretion.”
The matter now is coming to light because The Eagle recently obtained a copy of the 3½-page letter that Harrington sent to three of Tyne’s superiors, as well as the chief justice’s response to it. Harrington also had sent Tyne a copy of the letter.
The move appears to have set Berkshire County’s legal community abuzz over what represented a direct attempt by a prosecutor to unseat a judge whose rulings she strongly disagrees with and, in this case, a jurist who had been, to this point, widely praised as fair and impartial.
It’s not unusual for prosecutors to grouse when they disagree with a judge’s ruling, and in her letter, Harrington acknowledged that her request that “Tyne be precluded from presiding over criminal cases in Berkshire County” is a “last resort.”
Tyne’s background
Tyne, one of more than 160 district court judges in Massachusetts and one who presides at Central Berkshire District Court in Pittsfield, was nominated for the job by the Baker administration in 2017.
At that time, Tyne had nearly 22 years as an attorney, in roles ranging from private practice in elder and real estate law to a prosecutor in Berkshire District Attorney David Capeless’ office, and as a public defender and appeals attorney for indigent clients in criminal cases. When she was nominated, Tyne also was the district court supervisor for Berkshire County’s Committee for Public Counsel Services, the group of attorneys who represent defendants who can’t afford a lawyer.
At her October 2017 nomination hearing in Pittsfield, prosecutors and defense lawyers praised Tyne. Nathaniel Green, the supervising attorney for the county’s Committee for Public Counsel Services office, commended Tyne for her “keen legal mind and good common sense.”
“She is patient and courteous. She is the fairest person I know,” Green said.
Then the county’s first assistant district attorney, Paul J. Caccaviello, who later would face, and lose to, Harrington in the district attorney’s election in 2018, was at Tyne’s 2017 nomination hearing and said her competency, concern and care “will serve her well on the bench.”
Tyne later was confirmed by the eight-member Governor’s Council, which reviews and approves judicial nominations.
Harrington’s allegations
In her complaint, Harrington said “Judge Tyne’s hostility to victims creates a level of risk to the community such that my failure to alert you would make me complicit in the inevitable future results of [Tyne’s] disregard for public and victim safety.”
Harrington based her allegations on Tyne’s pretrial rulings in seven criminal cases, including a case involving a recent homicide victim. Harrington argued that when Tyne didn’t immediately agree to order Lemond E. Grady, of Pittsfield, held without bail on various assault and battery charges, it set in motion events in which the man he was charged with assaulting “murdered” — Harrington’s word — him.
The victim, Edward Jennings, of Pittsfield, later would be charged with killing Grady on North Street in April.
But, an Eagle review of the audio recording in the Grady case, specifically, a pretrial hearing in December, indicates Tyne determined that Berkshire Assistant District Attorney Stuart Weissman had not met the burden of proof necessary to show that Grady was a danger to the community who should be held without bail.
In March, the parties were back in court after Jennings claimed that Grady had been inside his apartment building and threatened him, actions that would have violated Tyne’s previous orders warning Grady to stay away from Jennings. Prosecutors again moved to revoke Grady’s bail, based on an unsigned and, at times, illegible statement Jennings allegedly had written at the Probation Department.
“I’m actually leaning towards having the commonwealth bring the witness in,” Tyne said, referring to Jennings, “rather than just go on a statement that it’s hard for us to read and understand,” according to the transcript.
Tyne ultimately asked Harrington’s assistant district attorneys to bring Jennings into court to testify in person about Grady’s actions. They agreed.
In a hearing four days later, Assistant District Attorney Weissman told another judge who was presiding at that day’s hearing that Jennings did not respond to a court summons.
“The commonwealth will continue to try to reach out to [Jennings],” Weissman told the judge, “but at this point, we can’t go forward,” according to audio from that hearing.
Jennings is being held without bail on charges he fatally shot Grady.
In her complaint, Harrington didn’t acknowledge that her prosecutors couldn’t produce Jennings to testify in person or that they asked Tyne to rely instead on the unsigned note they said Jennings wrote as reason Grady should be held without bail. Harrington also didn’t include that Tyne didn’t want to go on the “hard to read and understand” statement. Instead, Harrington wrote to Tyne’s bosses that Tyne had “inexplicably denied” prosecutors’ request to hold Grady without bail.
In an interview with The Eagle this week, Harrington refused to answer if she personally had reviewed the audio and transcript of the Grady hearings and the others in question before lodging her complaint against Tyne.
“I clearly stand by everything that I wrote,” Harrington said. “I’m elected by people in this community. It’s my responsibility to use my position to protect public safety and to ensure fair treatment of people in the courts. So, I used what avenues were available to take by sending a letter to the chief justice ... and I outlined all of my concerns in the letter.”
Harrington, a first-term district attorney who campaigned in favor of criminal justice reform, has steered away from the traditional cash bail system. Instead, Harrington’s office has expanded its use of dangerousness hearings, which can keep a person accused of a crime in jail awaiting trial for months if a judge finds them to be a danger to the community.
In 2018, the year before Harrington took office, there were just 53 dangerousness hearings in Berkshire County’s three district courts. In 2020, there were 151, a nearly threefold increase. Superior Court data from those same years shows a similar trend, with seven dangerousness hearings in 2018 and 34 in 2021.
While Harrington argues that the cash bail system has kept too many people behind bars simply because they couldn’t pay bond, others say the increased use of dangerousness hearings is hurting the very people she set out to help — those on the fringes of society.
In her letter, Harrington wrote that the Grady case and six other examples comprise a “consistent and troubling pattern of rulings” that she and her assistant district attorneys have observed and that affect “victim’s rights, danger assessments, pretrial detention requests and dispositions that undermine the efforts of victims to secure protection and justice in our Courts and put people at risk.”
In her Eagle interview, Harrington was asked if prosecutors in her office would request that Tyne recuse herself from involvement in their criminal cases. Harrington said they would not.
“We are professionals here, and we will continue to do our job professionally as we’ve done for the last two-and-a-half years,” Harrington said.
Dawley’s review
In her other examples, Harrington also criticized Tyne for an “often dismissive” and “frequently hostile” demeanor who “chills a victim’s right to address the court.”
Dawley, the chief justice of the district courts, went on to dismiss these and the entirety of Harrington’s claims in a 199-word, three-paragraph statement released to The Eagle on Monday.
“In reviewing all of the cases and listening to the courtroom recordings in the cases that were cited by the District Attorney in support of allegations contained in the letter, I did not hear anything that resembled hostile or discriminatory conduct by Judge Tyne,” Dawley wrote in his statement summarizing his findings. “Based on the information provided to me, there is no factual basis for me to confirm the District Attorney’s serious allegations.”
Dawley concluded, “In response to the claim that the decisions of Judge Tyne pose a threat to victims and the public safety of Berkshire County, my review of Judge Tyne’s handling of each of the cases cited in the letter reflects careful and thoughtful analysis on her part and was properly within the bounds of lawful judicial discretion. Judges are appropriately afforded broad discretion under our laws in making decisions that implicate sentencing, detention, revocation and bail because such decisions must be individualized to the crime and the defendant.”
In her interview, Harrington told The Eagle that her concerns about Tyne have existed for a while. With “few avenues to address concerns with the conduct or decision-making of a trial court judge,” Harrington said she opted to report those concerns to the “decision makers” of the district court, rather than to submit a complaint to the Commission on Judicial Conduct. In Massachusetts, the Commission on Judicial Conduct investigates complaints of judicial misconduct against court judges.
Tyne does not appear in any public matters before the commission.
‘Ex parte’ concerns
Others in the county’s legal community are raising concerns about Harrington’s letter, too, but not as it concerns Tyne.
Defense attorney Timothy Shugrue, whose client, Eamonn Percy, is among the cases Harrington cited in her complaint against Tyne, said the district attorney’s letter constituted what is referred to in the legal profession as an “ex parte” communication about an open criminal matter. That is when one party communicates to a judge directly about an open criminal case without including the other party, in this case, Shugrue and Percy. In Massachusetts, lawyers are prohibited from ex parte communications without prior authorization.
Shugrue says that is what Harrington did here. He said he will be filing a motion to have a copy of her letter turned over to him and his client.
“Because that’s what I’m obviously the most upset about: There was a communication about my client, his case, with three judges, without me being even apprised at all, not even a courtesy copy sent to me,” Shugrue said.
The letter prompted defense attorney Robert Sullivan, who is considering a run for the office of Berkshire district attorney, to call for Harrington’s resignation.
In a statement posted to social media, Sullivan said Harrington ran “afoul of the ethical rules” regarding ex parte communications and called Harrington’s letter an “attack on the system through completely improper channels.” He also pointed to a number of other incidents, including when Harrington was stopped while driving unlicensed and when she fired her records access officer who, Sullivan said, “wanted to follow the law and not hide public information.”
“As a longtime practitioner in Berkshire County, as both a prosecutor and a defense lawyer, I am compelled to call for her resignation,” Sullivan wrote.
Sullivan praised Tyne as a jurist. “Judge Tyne is a fair and impartial jurist who will hold any attorney accountable for not being prepared or not performing to the high standards of the practice of law, regardless of gender and race.”
Amanda Burke can be reached at aburke@berkshireeagle.com, on Twitter @amandaburkec and 413-496-6296.
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"'Dangerous' and 'stunning': Attorneys lament Berkshire DA's bid to oust judge"
By Amanda Burke, The Berkshire Eagle, June 9, 2021
PITTSFIELD — Members of the legal community on Wednesday decried as “dangerous” and “stunning” District Attorney Andrea Harrington’s failed attempt to have a district court judge removed from the bench over a series of rulings unfavorable to prosecutors.
Randy Gioia, deputy chief counsel for the Public Defender Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, which provides legal services to those who cannot afford an attorney, said the move telegraphs to other judges that they must conform or face consequences.
“Calling for a sitting judge to be removed from their post based on a decision a prosecutor disagrees with is both concerning and dangerous,” Gioia said in a statement. “It sends a message to other judges that they need to fall in line or else face an attack on their livelihood, and it ignores the other avenues available when a party disagrees with a judge’s decision.”
He and other attorneys spoke out about what they perceived as an extraordinary move by a prosecutor that raises questions about her stewardship of the District Attorney’s Office.
Harrington’s assertion in a May letter that Judge Jennifer Tyne posed a “significant threat to public safety” was swatted down this week by the chief justice of the district court system, Paul C. Dawley, who found there was “no factual basis” to support the top prosecutor’s claims of judicial indiscretion.
Harrington has said that she stands by the content of her letter, and in a statement Wednesday, said she is content knowing top district court officials have been looped into what she said are flaws in the system.
“I respect and appreciate Justice Dawley’s review of my multiple concerns,” she said. “I am satisfied knowing that the leadership of the district court is aware that the atmosphere in the court is demoralizing for the prosecutors and victims who are seeking protection and justice.”
After reviewing audio from the cases the district attorney cited in her letter, Dawley had said he “did not hear anything that resembled hostile or discriminatory conduct by Judge Tyne.” Harrington earlier this week refused to say whether she personally had reviewed the audio.
“There are limited options to address concerns with judges,” Harrington said in a statement Wednesday, “but it is my responsibility to advocate for the compassionate treatment of parties and attorneys in the justice system.”
But the dust has yet to settle over the legal community in Berkshire County and beyond, and Harrington’s request has already prompted one local attorney and possible DA candidate, Robert Sullivan, to call on Harrington to resign.
Harrington lodged her written complaint with three of Tyne’s superiors, including Dawley, who investigated Harrington’s claims. Attorneys said it was an abnormal avenue that Harrington took, since complaints against judges are typically investigated by the Commission on Judicial Conduct. But Harrington has said it was appropriate for her to raise her concerns with the “decision makers” within the district court system.
The communication also raises questions about whether Harrington infringed on the separation of powers with the coequal judiciary, said Jedd Hall, a Berkshire defense lawyer and former prosecutor. Hall said he now feels “less confident” in Harrington’s “ethical choices.”
“She’s the executive branch; she has nothing to do with the judicial branch,” he said of Harrington. “The fact that the top prosecutor tried to have her [Tyne] basically removed because she wasn’t in line with the decisions the DA’s office is making is stunning.”
Harrington seemed to acknowledge the issue in her May 14 letter to Dawley and two other judges.
She wrote that she has “profound respect for the separation of powers between the judiciary and the Commonwealth” and asked that “Tyne be precluded from presiding over criminal cases in Berkshire County” only as a “last resort” necessitated after “efforts to seek relief from the appellate courts have proved unsuccessful in remedying a pattern of dangerous rulings and hostile treatment of victims and prosecutors” by Tyne.
Gioia said his statewide agency supports Judge Tyne “not just as a former public defender but as a jurist and peer who is respected because of her fair and even-handed approach.” He commended Dawley for “making a prudent decision that was firmly grounded in facts — that is what judges are supposed to do.”
Tyne was appointed to the bench in 2017 after serving as a prosecutor, defense lawyer and appeals attorney for indigent clients in criminal cases. In her first term, Harrington campaigned in favor of criminal justice reform and steered away from the traditional cash bail system in favor of expanding the use of dangerousness hearings.
In her letter, Harrington argued Tyne’s refusal to revoke bail for a suspect triggered events leading the the slaying of Lemond Grady recently in Pittsfield. Tyne said prosecutors’ request was based on an unsigned statement accusing Grady of violating an order to stay away from Edward Jennings, who now is charged with killing Grady.
Tyne asked prosecutors to produce Jennings to testify, but Jennings did not respond to a summons.
Attorney Shannon Plumb, who represented Grady, acknowledged that without Jennings’ testimony, there wasn’t much evidence to support prosecutors’ request to revoke her client’s bail.
“Judge Tyne is a judge for a reason,” she said. “She knows the rules and she follows the rules.”
Harrington wrote that Tyne “regularly exhibits hostility towards the prosecutors who appear in her court,” behavior Plumb said she has never seen from Tyne. Rather, Plumb said Tyne expects attorneys to come prepared and becomes “rightfully annoyed” when they are not.
On a broader scale, Plumb said the promises Harrington made during her campaign as a progressive prosecutor have not materialized.
“It’s disappointing, it’s really disappointing, because there was a lot of hope for this administration that there was going to be a progressive platform going forward, and nothing that was promised has manifested and if anything, things are worse and the credibility of the office has suffered,” she said. “Their focus is seemingly less on justice and more on headlines, and that’s certainly not helpful to Berkshire County.”
Another attorney handling one of the multiple criminal cases that Harrington cited in her letter, Timothy Shugrue, said the legal community was “blindsided” by the district attorney’s request to have Tyne removed from the bench.
“She went after a judge that everyone considers fair and impartial,” Shugrue said, describing Tyne in positive terms that were echoed by attorneys Elizabeth Quigley and Nathaniel Green.
Shugrue said Harrington brought up his case with three judges without notifying him, running afoul of the rules and prompting him to question whether the District Attorney’s Office will prosecute the case fairly.
“We’re supposed to have mutual respect and trust in one another,” he said. “That trust has been questioned.”
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Full press release from Attorney Robert Sullivan - June 9, 2021
From the Law Offices of Robert D. Sullivan, Jr. - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
It is truly a sad day when I feel ethically obligated to call for the resignation of Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington. However, I feel compelled to do so after listening to members of the bar on both sides of the aisle of the criminal justice system, among countless residents of Berkshire County. DA Harrington has recently done something, which in light of her previous unethical behavior, requires me to speak out. Specifically, The DA has written an ex parte letter to the RAJ (Regional Administrative Judge) calling for the removal of District Court Judge Jennifer Tyne. Not only does this run afoul of the ethical rules regarding ex parte communications, especially on substantive issues, but it is an attack on the system through completely improper channels. For the DA, who ran in part on the rights of women involved in domestic violence, to seek the removal of the single female District Court judge that regularly sits in Berkshire County, is appalling. Judge Tyne is a fair and impartial jurist, who will hold any attorney accountable for not being prepared or not performing to the high standards of the practice of law, regardless of gender and race. No rational human being supports domestic violence, but this attack on Judge Tyne is completely inappropriate substantively and ethically. This comes just a month after DA Harrington decided to send an ex parte email to the current sitting Superior Court Justice, again afoul of the ethical rules of professional conduct. She even had the audacity to request a personal meeting with said judge. In light of the troubling news during her short tenure as District Attorney, including driving unlicensed and driving the wrong way down a one-way street, her firing of her public records officer because the public records officer wanted to follow the law and not hide public information that the DA did not wish to become public, and her attempt to bribe a member of the office with a severance package in exchange for the signing of a non-disclosure agreement, I cannot sit by idly any further. Does the law not apply to the District Attorney? My colleagues on the defense bar and even within the prosecutors office do not feel comfortable issuing a statement on these issues because their careers and family require them to remain quiet. I don’t have that fear. I will not remain quiet any longer, and on behalf of many attorneys and residents of Berkshire County I believe DA Harrington has violated the ethical rules of the practice of law, and has violated her oath of office. As a longtime practitioner in Berkshire County, as both a prosecutor and a defense lawyer, I am compelled to call for her resignation. The Office of the District Attorney is political in that it is an elected position, however the work of a District Attorney should never be political. The time has come for the residents of Berkshire County to be represented by an ethical and dedicated prosecutor, not someone who runs afoul of the rules to gain political advantage. I remind my fellow friends and colleagues that the only case ever tried by DA Harrington was lost, and she prayed for relief from the court that the Defendant, whom she represented, was the victim of ineffective assistance of counsel, an attack on her own ability to effectively litigate. The time has come for new leadership in the DA’s office, and whomever that may be will have my support.
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MACDL - Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
1 Mercantile Street
Worcester, MA 01608
info@macdl.com
www.MACDL.com
June 9, 2021
District Attorney Andrea Harrington
7 North Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Dear District Attorney Harrington:
We are the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the largest organization of criminal defense lawyers in the Commonwealth. We write concerning your ex parte letter about the Honorable Jennifer Tyne, and copy this letter to all impacted defense counsel and the judges to whom your letter was addressed.
We are deeply concerned by your effort as the lead prosecutor in Berkshire County to undermine the independent decision-making of a sitting judge by engaging in an ex parte communication with the Court about pending cases brought by your office. Your office has available various vehicles for voicing objections to Judge Tyne’s actions, such a motion to recuse, an appeal or, for that matter, a complaint to the Judicial Conduct Committee. Your letter to the Court was instead an indefensible and unethical effort to circumvent fair process, barred by the Rule 3.5 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which prohibits any lawyer from engaging in ex parte communications during the pendency of a case. The egregious nature of your conduct is underscored by Judge Mason's Order, issued just three weeks prior, prohibiting your ex parte communication in a case before him. Your letter's further failure to advise the Court that your office was unable to produce a necessary witness in a Dangerousness Hearing, which led to the denial of the Commonwealth’s motion, is a violation of Rule 3.3(d) insofar as it amounted to a lack of candor with the Court during an ex parte communication.
We ask that you voluntarily report your conduct to the Board of Bar Overseers, and that your office recuse itself from all matters which were the subject of your ex parte communication. We further demand that you make public all communications related to this matter or any other effort on your part or that of your office to initiate ex parte communications about a judge's
conduct in a pending matter.
Sincerely,
/signed/
Victoria Kelleher
President, MACDL, on behalf of the entire Board of Directors
cc: Hon. Paul C. Dawley, Hon. Paul Hart Smyth, Hon. Maureen Walsh, Hon. Jennifer Tyne, Attorneys Jill Sheldon, Adam Narris, Jerald Trehey, Marc Vincellette, Shannon Plumb, Ryan Smith, and Ismail Ahme
Note: right side of the page of the letter: Officers Victoria Kelleher, President, Shira Diner,
Vice President, John Amabile, President-Elect, Derege Demissie, Immediate Past President, Brian E. Murphy, Treasurer, Board of Directors: Victoria Bonilla, Howard Cooper, John H. Cunha, Jr., Past President, Marissa Elkins, William Fick, Syrie Fried, David Grimaldi, Michael Hussey, Past President, Mona Igram, Aviva Jeruchim, Ambar Maceo, Laura Mannion, Eduardo Masferrer, Ruth O'Meara-Costello, Jane Peachy, David Rangaviz, Cristina Rodrigues, Luke Ryan, Emily Schulman, Max Stern, Past President, Linda J. Thompson, Austin Tzeng, Christian Williams, Chauncey Wood
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June 13, 2021
Hello blogger Dan Valenti, fellow blog posters, and all of the blog readers out there,
Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington has made mistakes since she was elected to her post in the Fall of 2018. She is seen as both political and controversial to her critics. She is seen as progressive and with the in crowd to her supporters. The legal community has called on her to at least admit her mistake(s), and at most, for her to resign or face the consequences of her alleged and known actions. To be clear, she - similar to all politicians - has her enemies and they are smelling blood. I feel sorry for anyone who is put in difficult situations in politics, but I also feel that she has put herself in said difficult situations in politics.
I wish to add that prior to Mayor Linda Tyer, and prior to Berkshire D.A. Andrea Harrington, respectively, Pittsfield, Massachusetts had the same distressed socioeconomic, violent crime, drugs, poverty, and so on, problems that it has today in 2021. I never understood why critics of the current Mayor of Pittsfield, and critics of the current Berkshire D.A. write or say that their progressive and in crowd politics is hurting the community and county when it has been this way in Pittsfield for decades on end.
Inner city Pittsfield has long scared the living daylights out of me since I was a young man since 1993 when I graduated from Pittsfield High School 28 years ago. On of my biggest fears in my then young adult life was that I would end up being stuck in inner city Pittsfield due to me being part of the distressed socioeconomic underclass and working poor class that makes up a majority of Pittsfield's disadvantaged residents. To make matters worse for me, my dad was a Pittsfield area politician and he also worked at the Pittsfield courthouse for over 31 years until early-2002. Not only did I fear facing a life of being dependent on low to moderate wage work and social services, but I also had to deal with corrupt Berkshire County and Pittsfield politicians who were mean to me and my family back then. Inner city Pittsfield and Pittsfield politics both threatened my survival for many years of my then young adult life.
Mayor Linda Tyer and Berkshire D.A. Andrea Harrington are around my age range, and they, unlike me and my family, stayed in Pittsfield to try to rebuild the city and county from it post industrial GE past into a better area for the next generations of families and young adults who live in Pittsfield. I couldn't do it, but they could, and now they are facing everything I saw firsthand and feared being captive to decades ago, except that the Lovely Linda lives in a wealthy gated community, while the Lovely Andrea lives in upper class Richmond like former Governor Deval Patrick, while I would have ended up in the zone or the ring of poverty around North Street. Lucky for me, my family and I have lived in southern New Hampshire for 17 years now, but inner city Pittsfield and Pittsfield politics still causes me unpleasant feelings of anxiety after all of this time.
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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June 14, 2021
No one knows about what the real Pittsfield is like more than I do. My dad was a Pittsfield area politician, and I saw a lot back then when I was a young man. I studied and have a Master of Public Administration degree, which means I understand how Pittsfield politics operates for its own gain at the expense of the people and taxpayers. I understand that inner city Pittsfield mostly consists of the city's underclass and working poor residents, while the ruling and wealthy elites live in the outer edges of Pittsfield - (or in Naples, Florida) - including the sitting Mayor who lives in a wealthy gated community close to the Hancock border. I understand that one has to either kiss the dirty behinds of the Good Old Boys (& Girls) club of insider, incestuous, corrupt provincial political hacks, and/or be related to the "All in the Family" clan to have a living wage job in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. I understand that if one speaks out about Pittsfield politics' disservices and insider baseball, he or she will lose their job in a New York minute, and be on the blacklist until they sacrifice all of their integrity, self-worth and pride at the alter of the Pittsfield politics' mystery man from Naples, Florida whose rolodex is at the bottom of Silver Lake. Lastly, I understand that the outcomes of Pittsfield's past cannot be changed, and the Pittsfield's dark present and future can be with actions starting today, but I am not holding my breath!
- Jonathan Melle
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Our Opinion: "DA's attack on judge a deeply troubling move"
The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, June 25, 2021
Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington’s misguided and foolish shot at a local judge last month sets an ominous precedent.
Judges wield great power, and their decisions and behavior are fair subjects of debate. Procedures are in place to review judicial activity. An independent judiciary is a cornerstone of our democracy, and to preserve that independence, a judge’s right to respond to criticism is extremely limited. So, if anyone, especially the county’s chief law enforcement officer, chooses to step outside of the prescribed procedures to challenge a judge’s actions, decency requires that such criticism be supported with solid evidence.
In her letter to District Court Chief Justice Paul Dawley, Ms. Harrington made sweeping allegations that Judge Jennifer Tyne displayed “hostility to victims and prosecutors,” claiming the judge who regularly presides over Berkshire district court cases put our community at risk. Ms. Harrington’s letter shows neither care in preparation nor evidential support. Chief Justice Dawley was unequivocal in denying Ms. Harrington when he wrote, “there is no factual basis for me to confirm the District Attorney’s serious allegations.”
Allegations of hostility and unfairness can be difficult to prove, but all district court proceedings are recorded and the recordings are available to the public. The Berkshire Eagle repeatedly asked Ms. Harrington if she listened to the recordings of the proceedings that gave rise to her letter, but she refused to answer the question. We take her refusal to answer this simple inquiry as a denial, as no other interpretation makes sense. As is often the case, the DA was not present for the hearings in question, but the recordings are readily available and would be easy for her office to access. Chief Justice Dawley listened to the recordings, and so did The Berkshire Eagle. It was shameful and lazy for the district attorney to challenge a judge’s integrity without taking the time to hear exactly what the judge said in the cases that the DA’s screed addressed.
The only matter that Ms. Harrington’s letter spells out is the case involving Lemond Grady and Edward Jennings. Her description ends with the bold-faced italicized statement that “… the victim [Mr. Jennings] murdered Mr. Grady.” Mr. Jennings has not been found guilty nor admitted his guilt of murder. It would be unethical for this newspaper, or any other news organization, to call someone a murderer or a felon until he or she is actually convicted. This is a distinction with a profound difference, especially to lawyers and judges.
Ms. Harrington’s misuse of the term “murdered” betrays a sloppiness that pervades her letter. She wrote of her “profound respect for the separation of powers between the judiciary and the Commonwealth.” Prosecutors proceed on behalf of the people of the commonwealth, but they do so as part of the executive branch. Article 30 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights succinctly states that: “… the executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them ….” We believe that the chief law enforcement officer of our county should be aware of this distinction, especially in the context of an attack on the integrity of a sitting judge.
More importantly, an examination of the details of the handling of the Lemond Grady case by the DA’s Office displays a similar sloppiness. Ms. Harrington’s letter raises the scandalous inference that the local judge’s failure to grant her office’s request to revoke Mr. Grady’s bail somehow led to his being killed a month later.
On the recording of the proceeding, the judge calmly and politely told the assistant district attorney that she wanted to hear from the victim before acting on the request to revoke Mr. Grady’s bail. The ADA did not object or push back in any way to the judge’s request, perhaps because it was reasonable. The judge continued the hearing to a date that the ADA chose, and at that hearing, which was before a different judge, the same ADA said he could not proceed because the DA’s Office was unable to contact Mr. Jennings, the alleged assault victim.
The ADA did not request more time from the judge for his office to locate the victim. Despite the judge’s offer to bring the matter forward if and when the DA’s Office did find the victim, there were no further proceedings during the five weeks before Mr. Grady’s death. It is fair to infer that Ms. Harrington’s office either lost sight of the complaining witness in a case alleging a violent attack or they did not care enough to do the ordinary due diligence of maintaining contact.
It is worth noting that Ms. Harrington, in submitting her letter to Chief Justice Dawley, neglected the proper channels for calling into question a judge’s behavior on the bench: submitting a complaint to the Commission on Judicial Conduct. Moreover, Ms. Harrington’s haphazard attempt to have Judge Tyne “precluded from presiding over criminal cases” in the county is, among other things, a blatant effort at judge shopping on a grand scale. Her letter attacks Judge Tyne for fostering widespread judge shopping among the defense bar, although this allegation is not supported by any statistical or even anecdotal evidence.
We are not the only ones troubled by this ethically bankrupt move. The Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers condemned the letter, saying Ms. Harrington sought to “undermine the independent decision-making of a sitting judge by engaging in an ex parte communication with the Court about pending cases,” calling it an “indefensible and unethical effort.” Ex parte communication occurs when one party communicates directly to a judge about an open case without giving the other parties notice of the communication. If allowed, such communication could undermine our adversarial system of justice. In Massachusetts and elsewhere, lawyers are prohibited from engaging in it except in the rarest circumstances.
The Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the legal journal of record in the commonwealth, published an editorial calling Ms. Harrington’s letter “an extreme step,” and “not the appropriate mechanism for addressing concerns over a judge’s decisions or demeanor.” The editorial concludes that “what she should not do is attempt an end-run around the process.” The Lawyers Weekly also noted that Ms. Harrington’s evasion of the prescribed avenues of redress “seems primarily designed to score points with voters.” This sad allegation is consistent with the complaints of two former, trusted employees of this DA’s Office who each cited a pervasive campaign culture when they left.
Prior to her election, The Eagle editorial board questioned Ms. Harrington’s ability to effectively administer the District Attorney’s Office if she were elected. Ignoring the well-defined avenues of redress and attacking Judge Tyne’s integrity with no evidence to support the attack reinforces the perception of an office that is dominated by a focus on politics over professionalism.
We urge Ms. Harrington to devote the remainder of her term to running the DA’s Office in the manner that brings honor to it and can earn the respect of the bar. In addition to serving the citizens of the Berkshires, such a commitment might prove to be Ms. Harrington’s most effective reelection strategy.
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June 27, 2021
Hello Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) Editors:
I read your editorial criticizing Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington's letter to the Administrative Judge against Judge Jennifer Tyne. The editorial made many valid points, especially that Andrea Harrington is more interested in politics than doing her job as Berkshire County's chief law enforcement officer. I was surprised, however, that the editorial's focus on Andrea Harrington's heavily criticized letter and subsequent actions overlooks that a man was shot dead in cold blood and in broad daylight on North Street, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. If I was in Andrea Harrington's shoes as Berkshire D.A., I would be in disbelief, too. She lashed out in a letter at the Judge in this tragic case instead of looking at her failures as Berkshire D.A. I understand her emotional state here, but I do think that her letter and actions are still wrong and unprofessional. I am concerned that inner city Pittsfield is so distressed with daily shootings, a gun murder in broad daylight, violent crime, drugs, gangs, and the like. Andrea Harrington became emotional and wrote an unprofessional and misguided letter, but I believe her heart is in the right place here because inner city Pittsfield is at rock bottom of society's ills, inequities and injustices.
Personally, I spent many years of my then young adult life fearing that I would end up on North Street or another proverbial "Social Services Alley" rundown slum similar to North Street and the ring of poverty that surrounds North Street. I am very fortunate and grateful that our country honors me as a disabled Veteran. I may not have much in my life, but my wish has came true that I didn't end up in the ditch that my native hometown's inner city Pittsfield is in and probably always will be in. But, I still care about Pittsfield and Pittsfield politics all of these years later because I like to root for the underdogs of the world.
In Truth!
Jonathan A. Melle
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June 28, 2021
Hello blogger Dan Valenti, and your blog readers,
We are all really HUMAN BEINGS! I choose LOVE and COMPASSION towards the Human race. I support Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington!!!! Thank goodness there are good people like Andrea Harrington in our otherwise cruel world.
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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"Why prosecutors must shine a light on plea agreements"
The Boston Globe, op-ed by Andrea Harrington, Satana Deberry, and Adele Quigley-McBride, late-October, 2021
Contrary to what is portrayed in television courtroom dramas, jury trials in America are rare. Instead, attorneys resolve most cases — an estimated 90-95 percent — through pleas, in which defendants waive their right to trial and agree to plead guilty to certain charges.
Plea bargaining is arguably the most consequential way prosecutors wield their enormous discretion. It is through pleas that the United States has attained the world’s highest incarceration rate, with people of color disproportionately affected.
We should know. Two of us were elected as district attorneys after promising to change how local criminal cases are resolved. Prosecutors can decide to dismiss charges as part of the plea, or reduce felonies to misdemeanors, taking prison off the table. They can seek consecutive or concurrent sentences. Yet, historically, this process, and the inner workings of prosecutor offices across America, has not been very transparent.
To illustrate the importance of prosecutorial discretion, consider the example of two white men in their 30s recently charged with assault and battery in Berkshire County. Neither of the men had prior criminal convictions. Given the similarity between the cases, one might expect similar sentences. Although both men received probation, one received a longer sentence and fines, but the other’s shorter sentence included rehabilitative services.
In most jurisdictions, there is no way to know why one person received a lesser sentence than the other. Perhaps one had a better defense lawyer? Maybe one prosecutor was harsher than the other? Did one victim express a preference, or did the judge alter one of the plea agreements? Did one defendant reject the first offer, but the other accepted right away? While it is commonplace for lawyers to exchange offers, negotiations aren’t reflected in court records, so these questions remain unanswered. It is a notorious black box that can hide inconsistencies and abuses of discretion.
For the first time, the plea process is being tracked. The district attorney’s offices in Berkshire County and Durham County, N.C., have paired with the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law to bring plea negotiations into the light.
Our new Plea Tracker Project began in full force last spring. Prosecutors in Berkshire and Durham now document reasons for their final recommendations to the court and information about how a plea agreement evolved until the case was resolved. The Plea Tracker Project is an unprecedented look at how prosecutors use their discretion and a rare example of prosecutors putting a check on their own practices.
Consider again those two assault cases. The Plea Tracker allows us to see why one case resulted in a shorter sentence — the prosecutor’s goal was to ensure the defendant’s mental health needs were addressed. The defendant in the other case was believed to pose a higher risk of recidivism, resulting in a longer probation period.
Tracking pleas allows an office to evaluate practices and implement new approaches. We can see if there are disparities in offers being made for similar cases, whether one prosecutor tends to be inconsistent with others in the office, if there are racial disparities in outcomes, and if victims are treated equitably. We can identify gaps in the availability of therapeutic services and whether alternatives to incarceration are available and used. In turn, we believe plea tracking improves the legitimacy of our system. It can promote public trust in how prosecutors exercise discretion.
If we are to overcome the pervasive racial and other disparities that infect our criminal legal system, prosecutors must institute checks on their own biases to ensure that we extend mercy fairly, regardless of skin color or socioeconomic factors. The plea tracker can be a powerful tool to identify the causes of disparities in plea outcomes and develop practical solutions. Research suggeststhat even adding “friction” to plea bargaining — by requiring prosecutors to reflect on each offer — may help check implicit biases.
We hope that participating in the Plea Tracker Project contributes to broader discussions of how communities invest their resources and reimagine the justice system’s role in society. As the nation grapples with the injustices of our criminal legal system, district attorneys need to take ownership of their institutions’ roles in perpetuating systems of oppression. The power and discretion of prosecutors lies at the heart of our criminal system. Opening plea practices to scrutiny and welcoming the results is leading by example. We hope to see more prosecutorial offices shine a light on their own plea practices.
Andrea Harrington is the district attorney in Berkshire County. Satana Deberry is the district attorney in Durham County, N.C. Adele Quigley-McBride is a postdoctoral fellow at the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law School.
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January 8, 2022
Hello Pat, I think that the District Attorneys try to get low level offenders help before throwing the proverbial book at them. If someone shoplifts or destroys property within limits, the D.A. may have the low-level offender get mental health help. If someone has a substance abuse addiction, the D.A. may have the offender get professional help with their alcoholism and/or drug use. I don't believe that D.A.s are allowing low level offenders to walk free, but rather, they are trying to get them help. Have you ever tried to help a teenager or young adult recover from their mental illness and/or alcoholism and/or drug use? As a 46-year-old man, I have witnessed it many times. Young men are immature, angry, and don't have the financial means to support themselves and their addictions. Young men look at middle aged and old men like we are their parents or a person of authority, but rather, we are trying to help young men (and young women) make good and healthy choices so they will learn from their mistakes and recover from their mental illness and addictions. I understand that 20 to 30 years ago, I was a young man who then middle aged and old men tried to help. Back then, I didn't understand what it is like to be someone who is now my age or older who is trying to help a young man or a young woman get help so they can live a good life beyond their youthful years. But now I do understand it. Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington is my age. She graduated from Taconic High School in 1993, which is the same year I graduated from Pittsfield High School. I understand what Andrea Harrington is trying to do for someone who was like me back in the mid-1990s, but now it is someone else who is living now in the early-2020s. Andrea Harrington's heart is in the right place. She is caring and compassionate, and I understand that she is trying to help young men and young women do well in their lives. Best wishes, Jonathan
Jonathan A. Melle
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January 21, 2022
I respect blogger Dan Valenti's commentary. However, I disagree with his writings about Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington because prior to her taking over the chief law enforcement elected post in the western-most county in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, both Pittsfield and North Adams were still always in the top 10 cities in the state for violent crime, according to the FBI's yearly reports. Boston dumps its neediest and most marginalized citizens in distressed cities such as Pittsfield, and the race to the bottom in Pittsfield and other distressed cities is put on steroids! The Berkshire County District Attorney's Office has a very bad history, especially with the railroading of the now late-Bernard Baran. Most criminal cases in Berkshire County are politicized due to the corrupt political insiders who have run the show in the beautiful Berkshires for generations. Nothing has noticeably changed for the better since Berkshire County D.A. Andrea Harrington's progressive tenure, but what else does one expect?
I have long written that Pittsfield politics' ruling elite are totally DISCONNECTED from the people and taxpayers who live in the Shire City. PAC Man Richie Neal (D-Insurance Companies) only represents K Street Corporate Lobbyist Firms. Chrome Dome Adam Hinds bought a $690,000 home in Amherst, Massachusetts last year of 2021. Trippy County Buffet lives in a beautiful home near the Lenox border and sent her children to Lenox's public schools. Mayor Linda Tyer lives in a mansion in a millionaires-only gated community within a few feet of the Hancock border. Godfather Jimmy Ruberto lives in Naples, Florida and has a $490,000 Summer condo in upscale Lenox. Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski trying to communicate with PAC Man, Chrome Dome, Trippy, the Lovely Linda, the Godfather, and the like, would be an exercise in futility.
Moreover, Pittsfield politics is totally predictable in that City Hall only represents the Good Old Boys & Girls who really only serve the vested (Big 3 public unions) and special (out-of-town millionaires) interests, while constantly passing record high municipal budgets that have always increased by around 5 percent per fiscal year going back to when MVP Larry Bird was winning NBA championships for the Boston Celtics in the mid-1980s. When someone speaks out about corrupt and always predictably Pittsfield politics being part of the problem, they always predictably face RETRIBUTION - they lose their job and worse. The only thing Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski can do in Pittsfield is to sign their financial lives over to the GOBSIG network and hope to have a little peace of mind while getting screwed over by them year after year.
In closing, I hope the SHIT-FEST stops. Please STOP shitting on Andrea Harrington week after week in the blogs. The Ruling Elite in Pittsfield politics and beyond do NOT represent you so stop SCAPEGOATING Andrea Harrington for it.
Jonathan A. Melle
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January 22, 2022
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
Thank you for your advice for me that you posted on your blog, Planet Valenti. I appreciate that you care about me and take the time to give me your feedback. While it is true that I, Jon Melle, focus too much on the past, including in Pittsfield politics, I believe I am being fair when I write that I have also commented on current political issues and events many times. For over one-half of my 46.5-year-old life, I have openly said that I believe that I am a persecuted person, including to many mental health professionals. I have been told that I am really an emotionally disturbed person, including by some mental health professionals, while others have said that I have been a victim of difficult circumstances. I have also been told that my difficult life experiences are a combination of many variables that includes my own actions. In total, I believe that all of the above applies to my mental health disability. I need to handle things that happen in my life better than I have in the past, which is something I still work on.
Also, I understand the criticisms I receive that I "attack" (criticize) some politicians whom I dislike, while I defend some politicians whom I like. That is a fair criticism, but it is also part of what happens in politics. I like and support Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington in politics, and I have defended her from your blog's recurring criticisms of her. It is a fact that Pittsfield and North Adams were in the top 10 cities in Massachusetts for violent crime long before Andrea Harrington was the D.A. It is unfair for your blog to blame her for the current situation plaguing the beautiful Berkshires. Her policies are progressive, but I believe she cares about the people and victims who live in the community instead of just throwing the proverbial book at them. In regard to Pittsfield politics, I believe that it is always totally predictable and has been banal for generations, and that the ruling elite are totally DISCONNECTED from the people and taxpayers who live in the Shire City.
In closing, I respect your, Dan Valenti, and your blogging about Pittsfield politics and beyond, and it warms my heart that you care about me; thank you.
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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January 29, 2022
The Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) never liked Andrea Harrington from 2016 when she ran for the Berkshire-based State Senate seat to 2018 when she challenged Paul Caccaviello for Berkshire County District Attorney. To be clear, the Dirty Bird was always unfavorable to Andrea Harrington for nearly 6 years and counting.
There are so many issues that I disagree with the Dirty Bird about. The so-called cleanup of the Housatonic River from Pittsfield to Sheffield still has no financial commitment from GE, which has serious financial troubles itself. Yet the Dirty Bird supports this farce led by the corrupt EPA. Then there is Governor Charlie Baker never taking responsibility and apologizing for the Holyoke Soldiers Home debacle where around 80 Veterans - including Veterans from New Hampshire - died of coronavirus there. Then there is Elizabeth Warren who says she fights Wall Street and K Street to advocate for Main Street, while she supports Joe Biden who received more money from the financial elites than any other candidate in the 2020 presidential election. Then there is Maryland Ed Markey who promised to save the world from Global Warming with his Green New Deal propaganda, but all he really does is spew HOT AIR from the Swamp. Then there is billionaire John Forbes Kerry, who one year ago in early-2021 had tens of millions of dollars in investments in big oil and other greenhouse gas companies, but now he flies around the world in his private jet promoting the Democrat's Green New Deal HOT AIR. Then there is PAC Man Richie Neal (D-Insurance Companies) who raises millions of dollars per year from K Street corporate lobbyist firms, which has nothing to do with his large geographical Congressional District in Western Massachusetts. Then there is Chrome Dome Adam Hinds who lives in his $690,000 family home in Amherst, Massachusetts, which is well outside of his Berkshire-based State Senate ship. Then there are the four Berkshire-based State Representatives - Shitty, Trippy Country Buffet, Paul Marxism and the career Mayor - to Beacon Hill who only serve their dictator State House Speaker Ronny Mariano. Then there is Mayor Linda Tyer who lives in a mansion valued at over $800,000 in a Gated Community within a few feet from the Hancock border, while she passes record high municipal budgets in an economically distressed post-industrial city while shutting out the local people and taxpayers from her administration's spending of over $41 million in Biden Buck$.
I saved the best for last. HUNTER BIDEN! The son of Joe Biden who writes tell all books about all of his Bad Boy Behavior. Hunter Biden said and wrote that he used to smoke crack cocaine every 15 minutes while drowning himself in alcohol. Hunter Biden's first wife divorced him and she recently published a book about how Hunter Biden spent her family's income on booze, drugs, strippers and sex workers. Hunter Biden's wife had to raise her 3 children in an abusive household. Hunter Biden then got a young woman stripper half of his age pregnant, and then he tried to lie to a Judge that he wasn't the father of the stripper's baby, but a court-ordered paternity test proved otherwise. Hunter Biden then remarried, and he had his 5th child with his second wife. Hunter Biden's business dealings with adversarial foreign countries such as China, Russia and Ukraine were allegedly money laundering schemes whereby he allegedly money laundered many millions of dollars. Hunter Biden is selling his paintings for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then his paintings are bought and sold again by shadow buyers in a probable criminal network that spans the globe. The Biden "Crime" Family are all worth tens of millions of dollars each without any rational or legal explanation(s).
In closing, the Dirty Bird should focus on bigger fish than Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington, but it is always the little fish that gets reeled in - just look at the Ghislaine Maxwell case where the men, including allegedly Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Prince Andrew, go uncharged while only the woman sits behind bars. The Dirty Bird is no different than the rest of them by shitting on the woman named Andrea Harrington, while the men get to play politics!
Jonathan A. Melle
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March 9, 2022
At this point, this is a shit show whereby people and critics are shitting on Berkshire County D.A. Andrea Harrington, who has served in 2019, 2020, 2021, January, February, and 9 days so far in March (3 years, 2 months, and 9 days). It is NOT rational because Pittsfield/Berkshires had the same/similar violent crime numbers for years/decades. Planet Valenti is criticizing her for her progressive politics, which is not causing the problems being alleged in Pittsfield/Berkshires because they were already there for many years prior to 2019. There were 4 middle-aged white men there before her, and there were mistakes made from 1979 - 2018 (40 years), especially the railroading of the late-Bernard Baran. The 5th Berkshire County D.A. is a middle-aged, white woman who is trying a different approach to prosecuting crime called restorative justice. She wears her heart and emotions on her job performance, which shows she cares about the people she serves. There have been valid points made about her job performance and politics. But overall, I see the criticisms of Andrea Harrington as her critics mostly shitting on her similar to people calling me out for me mostly shitting on Pittsfield's Pot King. Please grow up and stop shitting on Andrea Harrington and the other lovely ladies who run the shit show in Pittsfield/Berkshires.
Jonathan A. Melle
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April 24, 2022
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
You wrote and posted on your awesome blog that you have been Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington's most consistent critic. You replied to my recent posting that you are just one man, and that you do not have the resources and time to cover all of the other failed corrupt career politicians in Berkshire County and beyond. Believe me, there a lot of problems with the whole lot of them. A few illustrations include Chrome Dome Adam Hinds living in Amherst, Massachusetts, which is represented in the State Senate by Jo Comerford; Trippy Country Buffet having zero accomplishments in Boston after a little over one decade representing Pittsfield there; Shitty Pigpen and others like him supporting GE putting it leaky toxic waste dump inside of a watershed in the Housatonic River; Mayor Linda Tyer living in a mansion in an elitist Gated Community and being totally disconnected from the people and taxpayers of Pittsfield; PAC Man Richie Neal always filling his campaign coffers with millions of dollars from K Street corporate lobbyist firms that have nothing to do with his mostly rural C.D.; Ed Markey of Chevy Chase Maryland always telling Massachusetts voters he is going to save the world with his Green New Deal propaganda; Elizabeth Warren telling the nation she is fighting for Main Street when she supported Joe Biden for U.S. President, who took in more money from Wall Street than any other political candidate in 2020. Never mind all of the problems with Joe Biden's troubled middle-aged son Hunter Biden, who is being investigated for money laundering, tax fraud, and other alleged crimes that involve adversarial foreign countries such as China and Russia. In closing, D.A. Andrea Harrington is the proverbial smallest hill among mountains of political malfeasance.
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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April 26, 2022
Blogger Dan Valenti has made many factual statements regarding Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington whereby he has mostly criticized her 3 years, 3 months and 26 days tenure in elected office. I concur that her brief tenure has been problematic because she uses personal attacks instead of only presenting facts, evidence and legal arguments in legal proceedings. She also comes across as being political, which is her right so long as it doesn't crossover to her full-time job prosecuting alleged criminal defendants. Andrea Harrington needs to know and practice her legal limits as a prosecutor. That being said, I find it absurd that she receives excessive amounts of criticisms because I believe that she is the smallest proverbial hill among mountains of political malfeasance by all of the corrupt career politicians in Pittsfield politics and Berkshire County, and beyond. It would be like throwing the book at a person who litters, while slapping other people on the wrist for much more serious criminal offenses. The other thing that bothers me is that Pittsfield and North Adams were always in the top 10 cities in Massachusetts for violent crime by population, according to the FBI's annual reports, long before Andrea Harrington took the oath of office in early-2019. Andrea Harrington's brief time as Berkshire County D.A. obviously did not make anything worse in terms of violent crime. As for the tragic death of a baby in foster care, there are many horrible stories of abused and neglected children in foster care failed by foster parents and the dysfunctional Social Services system. I agree that justice should happen in the future, and that this individual case is a tragedy. Lastly, it is all interconnected: Violent crime, poverty, substance abuse, prostitution, unplanned children, the system failing children, domestic violence, mental illness, broken homes, institutional corruption, failed political leadership, deadbeat dads, deadbeat moms, incarcerated parents, economic inequality, socioeconomically distressed cities, and/or health issues.
Jonathan A. Melle
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May 14, 2022
Hello Andrea [Harrington],
I do NOT believe the mean-spirited blog post about you on PlanetValenti. I believe that you are a good person who cares about the beautiful Berkshires' public safety matters. I am proud that you were a member of our 1993 (THS) graduating class in Pittsfield; I graduated from PHS that same year. Your professional accomplishments are praiseworthy, and Berkshire County is fortunate to have you as their District Attorney. I hope that you will win reelection to a second term as Berkshire County District Attorney this year of 2022. I proudly support your candidacy. Thank you for your time.
Best regards,
Jonathan A. Melle
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May 14, 2022
No, Pittsfield’s violent crime won’t “disappear overnight” under Shugrue. Nobody in their right mind thinks that. What most feel is Tim will right the ship JM.
Seeing how you never offer any of your own opinions on DA Wrong Way, other than give us your same old recycled posts, I’ll give you a few of my opinions on why I believe Tim Shugrue would make an excellent DA over Wrong Way.
What would happen under Shugrue: an actual working relationship with every BC police department, trust in the DA’s Office by law enforcement and court officials, enforcing all laws he will be elected to enforce (not pick and choose), shoplifting and drug crimes prosecuted, violent felony crimes prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, holding dangerous criminals on bail, not pleading out dangerous offenses to low level non-violent misdemeanor type punishments, and not allowing questionable character people like Shirley Edgerton, anywhere near sensitive information the DA’s Office possess.
None of this happens under DA Wrong Way. Instead she uses the DA’s Office to advocate for legal heroin injection sites, not thinking of the dangers and scourge that will linger around a place like that. She uses the office in identity politics: David Moody (LOC, 3.5 yrs prison for firearm charge, 3-striker) vs Lonnie Durfee (w/m, 2 yrs prison, burning hay bales only).
Facts like this should scare a wing nut like you JM. After a few of your “Dear Andrea” letters go unanswered, you’ll come unglued. Then the insulting letters and JM rant letters follow. Soon after, she will have the NH State Police pick you up and you and Lonnie Durfee will be “cellies” together.
As Dennis Miller said, “this is just my opinion, I could be wrong?”
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May 28, 2022
Blogger Dan Valenti indefinitely banned me last night (Friday, 27May2022) from posting my comments on his PlanetValenti blog that covers Pittsfield politics and beyond. We had a falling out over his recurring unfavorable blog postings about Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington. As a Pittsfield native who graduate from PHS with Andrea Harrington, who graduated from THS, in the year of 1993, I support Andrea Harrington for reelection in 2022. I believe that Dan Valenti is wrong to write about Andrea Harrington in the context of the tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. If Dan Valenti used my name - Jonathan Melle - instead of Andrea Harrington's name, I told him that I would sue him for every penny he is worth and then give all of the money to the families who lost their loved ones in Uvalde, Texas. I believe that Dan Valenti wronged Andrea Harrington, and that she should sue him for defamation of her character. I believe that D.A. Andrea Harrington stands against violent crime, and that she is a good person with a wonderful family who cares about the beautiful Berkshires. On a personal level, I still consider Dan Valenti a family friend. I am sorry, Andrea Harrington, for these recent events. I am sorry that this has happened. Politics should be about finding common ground for the common good, but instead it is really about proverbially shitting on good people such as Andrea Harrington. If one wants a friend, I suggest that he or she buy a dog(s) because they don't care about politics!
Jonathan A. Melle
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"District Attorney Andrea Harrington formally announces her bid for reelection"
By Greta Jochem, The Berkshire Eagle, May 28, 2022
GREAT BARRINGTON — District Attorney Andrea Harrington officially announced she is running for reelection on Saturday.
"This campaign is not about me, this campaign is about a movement for fair and just prosecution that is equitable to all," she told a group of about 60 people gathered at Town Hall Park.
Earlier this month, a spokesperson for Harrington's campaign confirmed she would be seeking reelection, but Harrington had not yet made the formal announcement. She was elected as district attorney in 2018 after running on a progressive platform and working as a criminal defense attorney for 15 years.
Now the incumbent is running against longtime trial attorney Timothy Shugrue, another Democrat, in the primary election this fall.
"I will be running on a record of accomplishments," Harrington said Saturday.
She spoke of practices her office changed. "We have ended the criminalization and over-prosecution of minor offenses. We prosecute those who are dangerous, we prosecute those who deserve it, but we provide paths to treatment for those that need it, and we totally remove the criminal justice system entirely when it causes more harm than good." Her office often declines to prosecute crimes like shoplifting, some motor vehicle offenses and possession of “personal use” amounts of drugs.
Community activist Shirley Edgerton speaks in support of District Attorney Andrea Harrington at the official announcement of Harrington’s bid for reelection in Great Barrington. Saturday, May 28, 2022.
Harrington also spoke about her efforts to combat sexual assault and domestic violence. "We expanded the current drug task force to include a violent crime section so that we have the best police officers across Berkshire County investigating the most serious crimes in our community, and that is sexual assault and domestic violence."
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, who was Harrington's law professor 20 years ago, endorsed her on Saturday. "We're living in a time when we need to be putting our very finest public officials forward to run every institution we've got. Because democracy is all of us, it's everything. It's not just federal, it's state, it's county, it's local, it's school board ... We need to be putting people in [with] the highest possible integrity and commitment in power, and that's Andrea Harrington."
Shirley Edgerton, a community activist, spoke in support of Harrington, saying she created an equitable and just system in the prosecutor's office.
"Black people represent 12% of the United States adult population, but 33% of the prison population," Edgerton said. "While white individuals make up 64% of the adult population, and 30% of prisoners. Mass incarceration is real and represents America's history of enslavement and racial bias." Edgerton praised Harrington's juvenile diversion program. "We need DA Harrington to reduce pretrial jail time where individuals' lives spiral downward [by] losing jobs and housing, setting up a scenario of desperation," Edgerton added.
Gary Pratt, program director of Rural Recovery Resources, said he felt heard by Harrington. "You continue to listen to people who are affected by substance use, and I'm one of those people, a person [who is in] long-term recovery," he said. "You understand that there are social determinants of health that guide addiction and that criminalizing addiction doesn't work."
The state primary is scheduled for Sept. 6 [2022]. Harrington's reelection committee had $12,358 on hand in cash at the end of April, according to the most recent report filed with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
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June 17, 2022
Hello Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle):
Letter writer Dan Rosenfeld's attacks against Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington states that she is a pro-crime zealot who contributed to the rising homicide and shooting rates in Pittsfield and beyond to other inner cities throughout the nation. He writes that she destabilized the community while aiding and abetting criminality.
Did Pittsfield's violent crime problems suddenly change over the past 3 years, 5 months, and 17 days that takes us back to the beginning of 2019 when Andrea Harrington became the first woman District Attorney in Berkshire County, Massachusetts? If not, of course, then Andrea Harrington is the newest woman scapegoat for Pittsfield's violent crime and related socioeconomic problems that have been the case in Pittsfield with decades of poverty, economic inequality, a very distressed postindustrial economy, and Pittsfield politics' corrupt state and local leadership that left the people and taxpayers in the proverbial ditch without a proverbial ladder.
Jonathan A. Melle
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Letter: "DA Harrington's record is not 'progressive'"
The Berkshire Eagle, June 17, 2022
To the editor: The article concerning the Berkshire County District Attorney's race and incumbent Andrea Harrington mischaracterizes her record. ("Andrea Harrington says she’s not concerned by fellow progressive DA’s recall in California. Her rival thinks she should be," Eagle, June 15.)
A progressive is a leader who examines the landscape to implement positive change for the betterment of society. Ms. Harrington and her ilk are pro-crime zealots who have contributed to the rising homicide and shooting rates in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Pittsfield and dozens of other American communities. A district attorney's responsibility is to protect citizens of their community.
As a two-year resident of Berkshire County and daily, avid reader of the Eagle, I can testify that Ms. Harrington has done nothing but destabilize the community while aiding and abetting criminality. A change is needed for the safety of all.
Dan Rosenfeld, Lenox
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June 20, 2022
My understanding of the Berkshire County jail on Cheshire Road in Pittsfield is that it is full of out-of-state gang members, which makes it a dangerous place for local men only inmates to serve their time, but I have heard of much worse stories about jails and prisons than the one in my native hometown of Pittsfield. I do NOT believe for one second that gang members are taking $20 per hour jobs in the beautiful Berkshires because gang members make a lot more money in their violent criminal enterprises. GET REAL & WAKE UP Pittsfield politics about violent crime in Berkshire County! One only has to Google "Is Pittsfield a safe community from violent crime" to read "Relative to Massachusetts, Pittsfield has a crime rate that is 97% higher than of the state's cities and towns of all sizes; North Adams is 1% higher than Pittsfield". I wish I could write more about this issue on this blog, but I will keep it brief by writing that both challenger Alf Barbalunga and Sheriff Tom Bowler are misguided with their campaign writings. As for the respective Berkshire County D.A. campaign, challenger Tim Shugrue is running a negative campaign against Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington with his false promises to fight violent crime in Pittsfield and beyond that I have heard from state and local corrupt career politicians my entire adult life of 47-years of age next month of July 2022. If I still lived in my native Berkshire County, I would vote for Alf & Andrea - the A Team over the T team.
Jonathan A. Melle
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June 21, 2022
My response to Tim Shugrue promising to fight violent crime in Pittsfield/Berkshires is that countless state and local provincial politicians have made the same/similar campaign promises for decades without success. Most of Pittsfield's violent crime comes from out-of-state gang members. Do NOT walk the inner-city streets of dangerous downtown(s) Pittsfield (or North Adams) after hours. The local residents are stuck in the proverbial ditch of low to moderate wage jobs, social services, and social insurance disability benefits. They are unable to afford to move away from Pittsfield or North Adams, but they are NOT the violent criminals Tim Shugrue is blaming Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington for failing to prosecute. The fact of the matter is that D.A. Andrea Harrington prosecutes violent crimes that occur in Berkshire County, which are mostly committed by out-of-state gang members. Both Alf Barbalunga and Berkshire County Sheriff Tom Bowler are NOT addressing the over 1,000 gang members who now call Pittsfield home, in addition to the thousands of gang members who visit Pittsfield to sell drugs and commit their violent crimes. Pittsfield's population is a little above 40,000 people, which means that there are way too many gangs who are committing violent crimes there. It wasn't always as bad in Pittsfield as it is now.
Jonathan A. Melle
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June 24, 2022
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
You have published written responses to others who have raised questions and issues with your positions and views on politicians and the positions they represent in government. I am requesting that you please do so on you blog about my counterpoints to your blog postings about Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington.
* Andrea Harrington has only been the D.A. for 3.5 years, while Pittsfield and North Adams has had decades of violent crime, according to the FBI's annual reports on violent crime in Massachusetts.
* Inner city Pittsfield now has over 1,000 gang members living there. The gangs are the real cause of the rise in violent crime in Pittsfield/Berkshires. D.A. Andrea Harrington's progressive policies may have had a minor impact on the increase in violent crime in Pittsfield/Berkshires.
* So long as D.A. Andrea Harrington's political activities, which she has every right to engage in, do not conflict with her official duties as the D.A., then it should a non-issue that is being sensationalized by her critics.
* Robert Sullivan, who dropped out of the 2022 election for D.A., and challenger Tim Shugrue, who ran for D.A. before, have both promised to do a better job fighting violent crime in Pittsfield/Berkshires than D.A. Andrea Harrington's short tenure, but countless state and local politicians have made the same false promises for decades without success. Why do you believe Sullivan and Shugrue's promises when similar past promises have always failed?
* Pittsfield has been losing living wage jobs and population for 50 years now. D.A. Andrea Harrington's critics point to her being soft on small criminal acts such as shoplifting for the dozens of empty storefronts in downtown Pittsfield and beyond. How does it even make any sense given that Pittsfield's distressed economy and second highest in the state commercial tax rate is the real reason for small businesses shuttering their doors in Pittsfield?
* D.A. Andrea Harrington is among a large group of progressive politicians in the Berkshires and beyond. What makes Andrea Harrington stand out from the rest of the progressive Democrats? It is well understood that a conservative politician would never win elected office in Pittsfield/Berkshires, other than Corporate Democrat, who is sarcastically called K Street's corporate - especially Insurance Companies - PAC Man Richie Neal who is from Springfield.
* D.A. Andrea Harrington is in a Catch-22 with her 2022 reelection campaign. If she actively campaigned, her critics would say that she is not doing her job. If she focused on her job, critics would say that is avoiding her campaign for reelection.
* D.A. Andrea Harrington should be networking with the state and federal Justice Department(s) to utilize all of the government's resources to fight violent crime in Pittsfield/Berkshires. Why is her professional networking with Healey and Rollins and the like being used by her critics to say she wants to jump ship?
* D.A. Andrea Harrington's public advocacy about the Opioid epidemic and high Fentanyl death rate shows that she cares about the people and families she serves in Berkshire County. Why are her critics using her compassionate leadership against her?
* Why does the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) publish mostly negative news stories, editorials and letters against D.A. Andrea Harrington? Why do Mayor Linda Tyer, the rubber stamp Members of the Pittsfield City Council, the Berkshire state legislative delegation - Chrome Dome Adam Hinds, Shitty Pigpen, Paul Marxism, Trippy Country Buffet, and the Career Mayor - PAC Man Richie Neal, Maryland Markey, Elizabeth Warren NOT of Main Street, & Joe Biden's 41-year high U.S. inflation and the Fed caused 2023 hurricane recession all get a pass, but not D.A. Andrea Harrington? The smallest hill in Pittsfield/Berkshires is D.A. Andrea Harrington, while the bigger hills of political corruption in Pittsfield to Boston to the Swamp are not being addressed by the Boring Broadsheet. The same goes for your blog: Planet-Valenti.
* Why does it always seem like the woman gets the negative coverage by the news media and blogs? 215 rich and powerful men - allegedly including Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, the U.K.'s Prince Andrew - have been named as being part of the late Jeffrey Epstein's sex abuse and rape ring of 14-year-old girls, but the only one behind bars is Ghislaine Maxwell. Also, the Boston newspapers published news articles about former Roxbury State Senator Diane Wilkerson, who is running for her old seat this year of 2022, and former not-for-profit leader Monica Cannon-Grant's alleged scandals, while Beacon Hill is full of corrupt career politicians, greedy registered lobbyists, marijuana dispensary business owners, and Attorneys who are in the pocket of Boston's big business elites. The Swamp is full of billionaire corrupt career politicians, the military industrial complex selling the world billions of dollars in arms sales, Wall Street and K Street writing federal bills by legally bribing Members of U.S. Congress, Joe Biden raising more campaign money from Wall Street than any other political candidate in 2020, and so on. YET, it is always the proverbial Martha Stewart, Ghislaine Maxwell, Dianne Wilkerson, Monica Cannon-Grant, and other women who are scapegoated by the news media and courts. In Pittsfield/Berkshires, it is Andrea Harrington who is being scapegoated - most likely because she is a woman.
* Why are critics of D.A. Andrea Harrington alleging that she is a race-baiter due to her collegial relationship with Pittsfield's West Side black community? Isn't she doing the right thing by being friendly with the Berkshires' NAACP and the like advocates for the minority community?
* Why are critics of D.A. Andrea Harrington not supporting her legal diversion to social services so that low level alleged criminals have access to rehabilitation services for their mental health, substance abuse, addictions, re-entry employment skills, and so on? Isn't that what she is supposed to be doing - caring about and helping the people and families she serves?
* Why isn't Andrea Harrington's 3.5-year public record as the D.A. being put into the context of Pittsfield/Berkshires' long history of violent crime, gang activities, multigenerational poverty, state and local political corruption, and so on?
I hope that you, the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle), and other journalists and bloggers will take the time to answer my list of counterpoints about Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington.
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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July 2, 2022
Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington is being slandered and libeled again by blog posters on Dan Valenti's blog named "Planet Valenti". This 4th of July long weekend, Andrea Harrington was called "the White Angel of DeAth Nipples" who is a big supporter of killing babies. She doesn't give a shit about babies, including dead babies such as Baby Kristoff and babies who are raped by their own mother. She dropped felony attempted murder charges against a mother who abused and almost murdered her baby.
Andrea Harrington denounces "White Supremacy" while she allows minorities and women to break the law, such as the case of the young black woman at Simons Rock who was never charged in the so-called racial hoax-kidnapping. She is not prosecuting cases of those waiting for the arrests and prosecutions made by police because of race.
Andrea Harrington is working for someone - meaning George Soros who is said to hate the U.S.A. She is not working for crime victims, but rather, she is serving an anti-American liberal agenda that is placing the people of and the 32 communities in Berkshire County at risk of violent crime.
My response to Andrea Harrington being slandered and libeled on Planet Valenti is that she is a good person whose top priority as D.A. is to protect women, children and minorities from the systemic inequities of the criminal justice system that has ruined so many lives since the end of the U.S. Civil War after the abolition of slavery and the one Century of structural racism that followed and beyond through present day. She is not a baby killer. She is a mother who loves her children. She is right to denounce "White Supremacy". She is not working for George Soros and his anti-America liberal political agenda. She is working for the people and communities of Berkshire County to keep us safe from violent crime. I support Andrea Harrington's progressive 2022 reelection campaign for Berkshire County District Attorney.
Jonathan A. Melle
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July 2, 2022
Hello Patrick Fennell,
You replied to my political email about Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington by writing:
North Adams is the third most dangerous city to live in, with Pittsfield at number nine for dangerous MA cities to live in 2022. That is on the Berkshire County's DA office. The job isn't getting done.
My reply to you is that you are correct that Andrea Harrington has not changed things for the better in Berkshire County over the past 3.5-years. I agree with you that she isn't getting the job done of lowering the violent crime rate in Pittsfield and North Adams.
However, the reality is that violent crime in Berkshire County (& beyond) has been a decades-long problem. Andrea Harrington should address the issues of and around violent crime in her reelection campaign. So should the Berkshire state legislative delegation: Paul Marxism, Shitty Pigpen, Trippy Country Buffet, and the Career Mayor - in their respective reelection campaigns in 2022.
Lastly, I was born, grew up, and spent most of my life in Berkshire County - where my dad was a politician many years ago - and I have heard many state and local corrupt career politicians and Wanna Bes promise to lower the violent crime rate without success for decades. Andrea Harrington is no different than the rest of them in failing to lower the violent crime rate in Berkshire County (& beyond). Once again, she - and the rest of the politicians - should explain the ongoing situation to the people.
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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July 11, 2022
I am not infatuated with Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington, despite what one of blogger Dan Valenti's posters wrote today on his blog named PlanetValenti.com. I graduated from PHS in 1993, while she graduated from THS in 1993, too. I have blogged about and followed Andrea Harrington's political career since 2016. I like to follow Pittsfield politics because I grew up there, despite my many frustrations with state and local government there. Andrea Harrington is a progressive politician and Attorney who is raising a wonderful family in the beautiful Berkshires. She has made gender equality a top priority in her little over 3.5 years as D.A. Who can argue with ensuring that men, women and children all have equal protection and justice under law?
The criticisms and worse false allegations against D.A. Andrea Harrington are not substantiated by facts. I am not writing that I agree with all of her decisions during her brief time in office, but she has done her job well by protecting the people of and communities in Berkshire County. The increase in violent crime, which has been a longtime problem in Pittsfield and North Adams, is due to the fact that there are over 1,000 gang members living in inner-city Pittsfield. Mayor Linda Tyer has been in office for a little over 6.5-years, but she doesn't receive a similar amount of criticism as D.A. Andrea Harrington for dangerous downtown Pittsfield's Ring of Poverty that is surrounded by North Street's Social Services Alley due to Pittsfield distressed and severely economically unequal economy that has Level 5 public schools that always cost more and more tax dollars as the years go by.
I support Andrea Harrington for reelection in 2022. I live in Amherst, New Hampshire, but Pittsfield, Massachusetts will always be my native hometown in my heart. I cannot argue with the facts that are favorable or unfavorable about Andrea Harrington's brief tenure as D.A. The other thing I wish to point out is that Andrea Harrington is the smallest hill among the mountains of corruption in local, state and Swamp politics. She is a good person who has a good heart who actually gives a damn about people and her job to protect them. Most of the other corrupt career politicians are only about the Almighty Dollar and power, even if it means selling people lottery tickets, marijuana joints, cancer stick tobacco products, addictive alcoholic beverages, and a lot of HOT AIR!
Jonathan A. Melle
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"District Attorney Andrea Harrington and challenger Timothy Shugrue will meet for a pair of candidate forums"
By Meg Britton-Mehlisch, The Berkshire Eagle, July 13, 2022
PITTSFIELD — Defense attorney Timothy Shugrue and Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington will meet in two forums across the county as the candidates continue to make their cases for the DA's office.
The campaigns have both agreed to two candidate forums in August. One will be an in-person event hosted by the North Adams Democratic City Committee and Williamstown Democratic Town Committee, and another forum will be held virtually and hosted by the Berkshire County branch of the NAACP, League of Women Voters and ACLU.
Harrington's campaign said that a third debate is in the works.
Voters will decide whether to re-elect Andrea Harrington, who has dedicated herself to reforming how prosecutors pursue justice, or to give local defense attorney Timothy Shugrue a chance to — in his words in March —“reinvigorate the office.”
Campaign representatives said that the NAACP-hosted forum is set for some time in early August, though organizers have yet to publicize details about the event.
The North County forum is set for Aug. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Greylock Community Club in North Adams. The North Adams Democratic City Committee said on its Facebook page that along with the DA candidates, an invitation has been extended to the candidates for the county's state representative and state senator positions.
Harrington's campaign said in a statement Thursday that the district attorney "is looking forward to participating in the upcoming debates and forums and talking about her proven record as District Attorney," emphasizing her work on gender-based violence, the opioid epidemic and "racial disparities in the courts."
Shugrue's campaign — which has focused on a platform of stricter drug crime prosecutions, diversion programs and combatting gun violence — said in a statement that he is excited to come before voters and give them an opportunity "to see the differences between Tim’s vision of the office of District Attorney and the one that currently exists."
Shugrue campaign representatives told The Eagle that the campaign has reached out to the Harrington campaign to try and organize a series of cross-county debates alongside the scheduled forums.
Shugrue's campaign manager and wife, Joann, wrote to The Eagle that Shugrue is looking for candidates to meet face-to-face and ask and answer questions from one another — not just from a moderator.
So far, the forums represent the first time the candidates will appear side-by-side before voters cast their vote in the Sept. 6 Democratic primary.
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July 28, 2022
Why? Predictable ongoing attacks against Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington on this blog that have been more about maligning her than about the facts. Some of what was written on this blog about Andrea Harrington has led me to write my apologies to her for the horrible things said about her on this blog - i.e., "she kills babies", her and other D.A.s like her and their progressive policies led to the Uvalde, Texas shooting incident, she takes orders from the likes of George Soros, and so on - because blogger Dan Valenti and his likeminded blog posters will never do so. You should all be very ashamed of yourselves for all of your horrible attacks against Andrea Harrington. I have written blogger Dan Valenti political emails whereby I made a number of counterpoints to his unfavorable writings about Andrea Harrington and the increase in violent crime in Berkshire County, especially that daily shootings in inner-city Pittsfield that are mostly caused by the over 1,000 gang members who live there. I did not receive a response, nor did he post my list of counterpoints on his blog. Rather, blogger Dan Valenti posts anonymous posters' written lists of criticisms of Andrea Harrington brief tenure as D.A. on his blog. Lastly, once again, I request that Tim Shugrue please list both his successes and failures as an Attorney in Berkshire County instead of him only listing Andrea Harrington's mistakes as District Attorney over the past 3 years and nearly 7 months.
Jonathan A. Melle
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July 28, 2022
Blogger Dan Valenti & his likeminded blog posters are all unconscionable for their ongoing malicious attacks against D.A. Andrea Harrington. She does not kill babies. She and likeminded D.A.s' progressive policies did not lead to the Uvalde, Texas shooting incident. She does not take money from George Soros and the like. All of you should be ashamed of yourselves and all of you should apologize to her for maligning her over and over again on this blog. All of you sound like immature bullies who take great pleasure by being conflictual, abusive and mean-spirited against Andrea Harrington. Please stick to the facts concerning her 3 year and nearly 7-month brief tenure as the sitting Berkshire County D.A. Also, I have volunteered my time at the animal shelter and the VA Hospital. I have always given my money to charitable causes. I am a law-abiding citizen and disabled Veteran who served our country honorably. I will happily list my personal failures after Tim Shugrue publicly lists his professional failures as an Attorney in the beautiful Berkshires. Isn't all too easy to criticize those you dislike, but it becomes very difficult to list your own failures. Unless Tim Shugrue is perfect - yeah right! - then he should list his failures along with him listing Andrea Harrington's mistakes. Lastly, it is a lot easier to be against something - such as Hitler's persecution of the Jewish People that led to the Holocaust - than to be for something - such as Human Rights for All people and Peoples in the world.
Jonathan A. Melle
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July 31, 2022
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
I support Andrea Harrington for reelection in 2022 for Berkshire County District Attorney. You have the right to free speech, as well as the right to recurringly publicly denounce Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington, who is a progressive politician. I support your writings when you use facts to support your arguments against her 2022 reelection campaign. However, I do not support it when you write that you will be the first one to piss on her grave after she would be defeated by challenger Tim Shugrue, who is also a Democrat, but on a moderate level.
While you and many other blog posters write unfavorable criticisms against D.A. Andrea Harrington, I often wonder as to why you don't ask Tim Shugrue to write a list of both his successes and failures as a career Attorney in Berkshire County. To illustrate, think of it as a baseball player's statistics that include both his hits and strikeouts.
Someone on your blog pointed out that I have written and blogged about my over 26 yearlong negative history with Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr. to criticize me for defending D.A. Andrea Harrington on your blog. Nuciforo has been a mean-spirited bully to me and my family without him ever owning up to his hurtful actions that spans from the Spring of 1996 when I was 20 years old to the Summer of 2022 when I am currently 47 years old. I feel I have to write and blog about Nuciforo to defend myself. It also helps me to have the peace of mind he has taken from me for so long to let people out there know my side of the story. My hope is that my writings and blog postings about Nuciforo ensure that he will never be elected to political office again. Thank you for taking the time to read my recurring political emails about Nuciforo, who is also sarcastically called "Luciforo".
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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July 31, 2022
Alf & Andrea are the A-Team! Tom Bowler & Tim Shugrue are predictable Pittsfield politics' "B-Team": the Business-as-usual team. Whatever team wins, Pittsfield will still have to deal with its over 1,000 gang members running its dangerous inner-city streets whereby there will still be daily shootings, which Mayor Linda Tyer recently called "an immediate crisis". The thing that boggles my mind the most is why are the D.A. and Sheriff's respective state government funded public pay and perks so lucrative that it is akin to a commoner winning the big state lottery jackpot? What do state taxpayers get in return for their tax dollars other than the D.A.'s "Whack A Mole" prosecution of Pittsfield's always increasing violent criminals that is similar to Sisyphus always pushing a rock up the hill and the Sheriff running an increasingly costly men's only half-empty county jail? It would be wonderful if all of Berkshire County's corrupt career politicians end up in the county jail and the Sheriff threw away the proverbial key! Then the proverbial Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski's state tax dollars would be well spent.
Jonathan A. Melle
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August 3, 2022
I believe Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington is right to avoid blogger Dan Valenti, as well as the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle), because they have only provided unfavorable news/blog and editorial coverage of her during her a little over 3 years and 7 months tenure in elected office. Blogger Dan Valenti has written horrible things about D.A. Andrea Harrington, including him blaming her and like progressive prosecutors for the Uvalde, Texas school shooting incident, as well as saying that he will be the first in line to piss on her political grave. As for D.A. Andrea Harrington's forthcoming report on the PPD shooting of Miguel Estrella, I believe that Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn was wrong to state retroactively in his police report that the mentally ill suspect was not a "person in distress" at the time of the use of deadly force. My hope is that D.A. Andrea Harrington will set the record straight in her forthcoming report. I am not happy to read about Pittsfield's rise in violent crime, daily shootings, and over 1,000 gang members living in the inner-city, but D.A. Andrea Harrington's progressive approach to prosecuting violent crimes is not the main cause of Pittsfield's longstanding dangerous downtown and the "Ring of Poverty" neighborhoods that surround North Street's "Social Service Alley". How many Pittsfield politicians prior to Tim Shugrue have promised to fight violent crime without success? It has been decades of failed Pittsfield politicians losing the battle against the "Whack A Mole" violent criminals who rule the streets in Pittsfield!
Jonathan A. Melle
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August 4, 2022
Blogger Dan Valenti has said horrible things about Berkshire County D.A. Andrea Harrington. She is the smallest hill among mountains of corrupt career politicians from Pittsfield politics to BeaCON Hill to the Swamp and beyond. Pittsfield is at rock bottom due to the over 1,000 gang members, poverty, distressed and unequal economy, the disconnected Ruling Elite, and so on. Pittsfield has been at rock bottom long before Andrea Harrington first ran for elected office in 2016. Andrea Harrington was first elected Berkshire County D.A. in 2018, and she has served in that position for a little over 3 years and 7 months. It makes NO sense to blame her for Pittsfield's violent crime because it has been a big problem there well before she started her progressive political career.
Jonathan A. Melle
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August 5, 2022
Do you really blame Berkshire County D.A. for avoiding the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) and blogger Dan Valenti? The Dirty Bird and Dan Valenti have unfavorably and unfairly criticized her over and over again. Do you really believe that Tim Shugrue's legal career is without failures? Babe Ruth had many more Strike Outs than Home Runs during his legendary baseball career. But according to Tim Shugrue, he only hits proverbial Home Runs, while Andrea Harrington only Strikes Out. Speaking of George Orwell .... Pittsfield's Level 5 public schools, violent crime-filled inner-city, distressed economy and economic inequality, high municipal taxes, fees, debts and other liabilities in return for substandard public services, political corruption, heavily indebted PEDA debacle, and so on, are all "Vibrant & Dynamic".... just like Jimmy Ruberto's Rolodex that can be found at the bottom of Silver Lake.
Jonathan A. Melle
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August 7, 2022
Hello Andrea Harrington,
Once again, I wish to apologize to you for the hurtful lies being published about you on Dan Valenti's blog named PlanetValenti.com. An anonymous blog writer posted that you are insincerely using minority people to further your legal and political career as Berkshire County D.A.
I believe that you sincerely care about gender and racial equality. I believe that you sincerely prosecute violent crimes to keep the people and communities in Berkshire County safe.
I do NOT understand why you have become the target of such slander and libel. I believe that you are a decent and good person who takes your job seriously. I am beginning to lose my faith in Dan Valenti. My faith in you is strong.
Best wishes,
Jonathan Melle
cc: Dan Valenti
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From her white privileged upbringing, to her life removed from reality in Richmond, Andrea Harrington is, at her core, an incompetent racist.
Behind closed doors, and in places she feels comfortable, she calls people of color; thugs, dirtbags, and she uses the N-word. I have heard it first hand. When she was working part time in Great Barrington, if you didn’t have money and weren’t white, she’d not return your call.
She looks at minority communities as communities she can use to further her political ambition; tokenism is her method of manipulation. Unfortunately there are some in the minority communities that go along because supporting her enhances their bank accounts.
If she cared about the minorities in the community, she would put those commuting crimes in jail. She would punish repeat offenders, why? Because in the end those criminals are stealing from, hurting, raping, and killing the most vulnerable in our communities. Those here illegally have little trust in law enforcement, often due to the corruption they have seen in their home countries. I deal with hundreds of immigrants a year some here legally, and some not. When we talk about police and law enforcement and when I try to get them to report rapes or theft with violence, they shrug their shoulders and say, “no one will do anything because the prosecutor is corrupt.”
They see her misdeeds and incompetence as corruption. The police don’t arrest her, she lets violent criminals and murderers go free. From their perspective she is just like the prosecutors from their home country, the criminals go free because of corruption. When I try and explain she’s not corrupt but incompetent, they laugh and say “Nadie puede ser tan tonta” or “ ¿Cómo puede ser tan tonta?
“Nobody could be that dumb”or “How can she be so dumb?”
By her incompetence and pursuit of her white privileged idea of justice reform she is failing POC and the community at large.
Please voter her out of office and make Berkshire County safer.
Because of my position in the community and the pressure within my organization to support her, I post this here anonymously but I implore you to vote for Tim Shugrue and save Berkshire County from the criminally incompetent Andrea Harrington.
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December 18, 2022
Dear Honorable Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington:
Millions of dollars from the bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency scam were allegedly money laundered from the Bahamas to small businesses in Lenox, Massachusetts owned by ex-FTX executive Ryan Salame, who invested a reported $6 million into restaurants and small businesses in the town. Ryan Salame of Sandisfield, Massachusetts, reportedly resides primarily in the Bahamas, where FTX is headquartered.
Countless investors had their funds allegedly stolen in this alleged 21st Century Ponzi scheme. Ryan Salame received a $55 million loan from Alameda Research – the hedge fund and trading arm of FTX that Sam Bankman-Fried co-founded. Ryan Salame informed officials in the Bahamas on November 9th [2022] that client assets "which may have been held" at the FTX exchange were transferred to Alameda to "cover financial losses" at the hedge fund. Ryan Salame reportedly warned that the transfers "were not allowed or consented to" by the clients and said the only individuals with access to carry out the unauthorized transfers were Bankman-Fried, Singh, and co-founder Zixiao "Gary" Wang. Sam Bankman-Fried is the only executive from FTX or Alameda to be charged with a crime. He faces eight federal charges that carry a maximum combined sentence of 115 years in prison.
Someone online commented: "More accurate headline: FTX exec Ryan Salame stole millions of FTX customer money and laundered it in one small Massachusetts town's restaurants."
Source: "Former FTX exec Ryan Salame invested millions in one small Massachusetts town's restaurants", Fox Business via Yahoo!, By Eric Revell, December 18, 2022"
What do you make of the small town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, that was used by the small business owner and investor Ryan Salame as part of an alleged money laundering scheme? Why did Ryan Salame choose to be a whistleblower? Was it to protect the defrauded investors or was it to cover his own behind? Or all of the above? Did your Berkshire County District Attorney's Office try to contact Ryan Salame? What action(s), if any, did your office take concerning Ryan Salame?
Thank you for your time.
Best regards,
Jonathan A. Melle
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January 15, 2023
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
I watched WCVB's On the Record political TV show today.
https://www.wcvb.com/article/on-the-record-playlist/36079040
The state (of Massachusetts)'s only Republican District Attorney Tim Cruz from Plymouth County was on the broadcast today. He said that Massachusetts has only one Republican D.A. and 2 Republican County Sheriffs. All of the statewide constitutional offices are held by Democrats.
Tim Cruz mentioned - not by name - that Berkshire County D.A. Andrea Harrington lost her reelection campaign by a 2-to-1 margin due to her progressive policies.
I disagreed with Tim Cruz when he said that Governor Charlie Baker did a good job. What about the debacle at the Holyoke Soldiers Home whereby around 80 Veterans died of Covid-19 in 2020? Baker never apologized and took any responsibility for what happened there under his leadership. Now, Charlie Baker runs the NCAA sports program whereby he makes $60,000 per week - $3 million per year - to watch young adult student athletes play sports. Charlie Baker also collects his 6-figure public pension plus perks, and he is a multimillionaire to boot.
I agreed with Tim Cruz when he said he would not support Donald Trump for his reelection campaign. My hope is that two new candidates for U.S. President on both partisan tickets will receive the nomination in 2024.
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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