GREENFIELD — As bar advocates across the state are refusing to take new cases in an effort to pressure lawmakers into giving them a pay raise, Greenfield attorney Isaac Mass has proposed a resolution calling for City Council to support raising the rate by $35 per hour.
Massachusetts pays bar advocates — private attorneys who accept court appointments — $65 per hour for representing a client in District Court and $85 for Superior Court. Arguing that the rate is significantly lower than that offered in other states, public defenders have been advocating for raises of $35 per hour in the first year and $25 an hour in the second year — three times more than the $20 an hour over two years that the Legislature and Gov. Maura Healey ultimately approved in the supplemental spending bill.
By comparison, Maine pays $158 per hour, New Hampshire pays $125 to $150, New York pays $158 and Rhode Island pays $112 to $142. Mass cited the pay rates of neighboring states when discussing his motivation behind the resolution, which has been sponsored by Precinct 5 City Councilor Marianne Bullock.
“For district court, bar advocates are looking for the rate to be raised to $100 an hour and then next year to $125 an hour, which will still put us below most of our neighbors,” Mass said.
Similar work stoppages occurred roughly two decades ago, establishing the Lavalle Protocol, a 2004 Supreme Judicial Court decision requiring the state to release pretrial defendants who haven’t been assigned a lawyer within seven days of being detained, and to dismiss cases that have spent more than 45 days without an attorney.
The Lavalle Protocol being implemented as a result of the work stoppage, Mass explained, can result in dangerous criminals, who would otherwise be held without bail, being released.
“I want the Legislature to realize that it’s more than a couple thousand attorneys who are concerned about this. We don’t want someone who would ordinarily be held for dangerousness, because of the crimes that they’re accused of, to be released on the streets and commit a new crime,” Mass said. “Someone can be hurt as a result of this. … There are thousands of unrepresented defendants around the state, and hundreds have been released already.”
Mass said the increase of $20 an hour over two years that was approved is just not enough, adding that he would like to see the Legislature provide not only pay rates that are comparable to those of neighboring states, but create a system that will ensure bar advocates receive incremental raises to avoid another work stoppage in the future.
“What we’re asking for is parity with our neighbors, to act quickly before it becomes a public safety concern and to create a mechanism where it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “Some states link bar advocate salaries to the federal bar advocates, so whenever their rates go up, the bar advocates’ rates go up in those states; it could be set as an annual cost-of-living adjustment. There’s a number of ways it could be set so that this doesn’t become a crisis in the future.”
For Bullock, who worked in prison reform for more than 10 years, including through her involvement with the Prison Birth Project at a women’s prison in Chicopee, her support for the resolution came primarily from a human rights perspective.
Bullock said without bar advocates, it’s difficult for defendants — many of whom live in poverty — to gain legal representation. She also echoed Mass’ remarks, asserting that $65 per hour is simply too low a wage for attorneys who devoted six to eight years to achieving their needed college degrees.
“The majority of people in prison are there in poverty. Many come from poverty and most of it is generational. I really see this issue as being connected to that. We have people in jails across Massachusetts who are there not because they were convicted of a crime, but because they can’t make bail and don’t have access to a lawyer,” Bullock said. “We are really not investing in a justice system that is working to provide true justice for people.”
The resolution is expected to go before Greenfield’s Community Relations Committee on Monday, Aug. 18, before being put to a City Council vote on Wednesday, Aug. 20.
