Dear Friends,

By now, most of you know that prosecutor Karen McCarthy was approved to the Parole Board in a 5-3 vote, with Governor’s Councillor, Eileen Duff, voting for her after she had announced earlier that she would vote against McCarthy. And while the vote was disappointing, to say the least, we were heartened by all of you who testified and came to one or both of the hearings of the Governor’s Council. Your calls, emails, and presence made an enormous difference. Many appointments have been rubber stamped, but with McCarthy’s nomination, this was not the case.

The good news is that by keeping the pressure on and by expressing our concerns about not having a balanced board, we have had an effect. On Monday, June 24, Governor Baker renominated Dr. Charlene Bonner to serve on the Parole Board. Dr.Bonner had been in holdover status for over a year, meaning she was serving on the Board without any official appointment, on day-to-day status, at the whim of the governor. So this is great news! 

Our work has also helped some councillors recognize how important it is to have members with education, training and expertise in mental illness, trauma and adolescent brain development. Dr.Bonner is a forensic psychologist who has shown by her record on the Board that she believes in parole and second chances, and understands the racial dimensions of incarceration. She also was an excellent Board Chairman for a year, and under her guidance, the Board’s lifer decisions were out in a timely fashion.

While we expect that Dr. Bonner will be approved by the councillors, and we do not expect anyone to testify against her, we have seen turnarounds at the last minute from the councillors. Dr. Bonner is planning to call several support witnesses (as is customary for nominees) but we know that it is important to have a good showing at the hearing. It is crucial to signal our support for Charlene Bonner to the Governor’s Council so we ask those of you who can, to call your Councillor. But most importantly, we hope you can show up to support her renomination. The hearing will be July 10th at 1:00pm in room 360. 

We will be sending another reminder next week. Please mark your calendars, and again we thank you so much for recognizing how we need to fight for parole justice and demand a diversified Board.

Best,
The Steering Committee of CEPS