Representative Driscoll Appointed to Bail Reform Commission

BOSTON, JAN. 15 - State Representative, Bill Driscoll Jr. (D-Milton), was recently appointed to the Special Commission on Bail Reform by House Speaker Robert DeLeo. Driscoll is one of two appointments made by the Speaker to the special commission charged with proposing statutory changes to the state’s pretrial system. The commission held its initial meeting on Thursday, January 10th at the Statehouse in Boston.

Representative Claire Cronin, House Chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, lauded Driscoll’s addition to the commission, and stated her belief that he would prove to be an asset. “I am delighted to serve with Representative Bill Driscoll on the Bail Reform Special Commission, which was established in the criminal justice reform bill,” said Representative Cronin. “Bill was extremely involved in the comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation and I am confident that he will be an asset to the commission.”

Last year, during Driscoll’s first session, the legislature passed a comprehensive criminal justice reform package and one component of the legislation created the new commission tasked with evaluating policies and procedures related to the current bail system and recommending improvements or changes. Among other things, the group is specifically charged with evaluating possible changes to cash bail, pretrial risk assessment factors used to set bail and exploring the disparate impact on defendants because of gender, race, gender identity or other protected class status in the pretrial system.

“Massachusetts is leading the way in this issue. We made important and progressive changes last legislative session to our criminal justice system and I look forward to serving in this capacity and taking a critical look at our state’s pretrial and bail practices alongside Representative Cronin who is recognized as a key architect of the reform bill we enacted last year,” Driscoll said.

The Special Commission on Bail Reform meets next on February 12, 2019 at 1PM at the Statehouse.