I am writing in support of attorney Jeff Morneau for Governor’s Council.
The main job of a Governor’s councilor is to help with the selection of judges and parole board members, and we only get one representative for all of western Massachusetts. Jeff Morneau is one of the candidates for the position.
Jeff Morneau is a Progressive Democrat who was born and raised in Holyoke. He earned his undergraduate degree from Providence College, his law degree from Western New England College School of Law and a Master of Laws degree from Georgetown University. He has 18 years of legal experience representing workers, unions and consumers throughout all of the courts in western Massachusetts.
Morneau was elected and served as president of the Hampden County Bar Association (2015-2016) and is chair of its Judiciary and Courthouse Advocacy committees. He also served on the Joint Bar Committee — one of the last layers of review in the judicial nominating process, which is charged with reporting to the Governor on the qualifications of individuals under consideration for judicial nominations.
Morneau also serves on the board of directors for Hampden County Lawyers for Justice, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing legal representation to indigent defendants.
On the issues, Morneau is a progressive thinker who supports treatment and counseling for nonviolent drug offenders with an addiction problem. “The incarceration of nonviolent drug users has led to the disproportionate imprisonment of persons of color, and has not deterred drug crimes, reduced drug addiction or made our communities safer,” he said.
Morneau believes that judicial diversity is essential to delivering equal justice, and he supports recruiting a diverse judiciary. Morneau said that “an ideal judiciary is representative of the larger community that it serves, and that includes women, persons of color, members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community and other under-represented groups.”
Morneau is also against mandatory minimum sentencing. He said that, “There are serious problems with mandatory minimums, from the inability of a judge to consider mitigating circumstances to the intolerably disproportionate rate of enforcement against people of color. It is unjust and unfair to have a one-size-fits-all sentencing structure.”
These are some of the values and beliefs that I think make Morneau the better candidate for this position, and I encourage you to vote for him on Thursday, Sept. 8.
Leslie H. Powers
attorney
Northfield/Greenfield