On April 28, 2016, our colleague, Attorney Ben Keehn, CPCS Appellate Co-Counsel, was honored with the Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA) Access to Justice Award. Each year, the award is given to unsung heroes in recognition of their significant efforts to enhance access to justice, specifically an attorney like Ben, “who provides legal services to low-income clients, and who makes a particularly significant or meaningful contribution to the provision of low-income legal service above and beyond the requirements of his or her position.”
In describing Ben’s contributions to justice, the MBA noted, “As a public defender at the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), Benjamin H. Keehn has never had a boring day since he began working there in 1987. He has dedicated his career to defending indigent, marginalized, and underserved clients, and has advanced the cause of access to justice as an inspirational public servant for close to three decades.”
CPCS Chief Counsel Anthony Benedetti said, “Ben is a tireless defender on behalf of our clients, as a litigator, an advocate, and a mentor to new defense attorneys.” In listing Atty. Keehn’s many accomplishments, the chief counsel added, “Ben has worked on numerous cases, both as lead counsel and as part of a team. A small sample of his amazing contributions include: Lavallee v. Justices of the Hampden County Superior Court, which addressed the right to counsel in Massachusetts; Bridgeman v. District Attorney of Suffolk County, which helped achieve some measure of justice for those defendants harmed by the conduct of Annie Dookhan in the Hinton Drug Lab; and Diatchenko v. District Attorney of Suffolk County, which provided critical rights to juveniles convicted of murder, offering them a meaningful opportunity to obtain parole.” He concluded, “To put it simply, Ben Keehn is an outstanding public defender and CPCS is lucky to have had him on staff for so many years. He truly deserves this award and recognition of his accomplishments, and we hope he will continue his work for justice for many more years.”
Atty. Keehn is a graduate of Columbia University and Northeastern University School of Law. He has worked on more than five dozen reported cases. Among his most gratifying projects has been aiding clients who were convicted of murder as juveniles and received mandatory life sentences without the opportunity for parole. As a result of Keehn’s work, juveniles convicted of life without parole were granted parole eligibility and the right to a fair hearing in the Supreme Judicial Court’s two decisions in Diatchenko v. District Attorney of the Suffolk District, I and II.