Koe v. Commissioner of Probation – The Supreme Judicial Court has issued the following amicus solicitation:
Where the plaintiff is a former sex offender who has been relieved of the obligation to register, whether the provisions [of] G.L. c.276, §100A(6), that restrict her eligibility to seal her sex offender records, violate[] her equal protection and due process rights under the Federal and State constitutions.
This case raises issues of vital concern to all level two and three sex offenders who would seek to rehabilitate themselves but are prevented from doing so by §100A(6), which makes their criminal history permanently available to, inter alia, any prospective employer or landlord.
Ahmad Bright v. Massachusetts
The petition will present the issue of whether the mandatory imposition of a life sentence with the possibility of parole on a juvenile for a crime committed when he was sixteen year old violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. This is an important question that has not yet been addressed by the Court.