Panel plays key role in composition of state parole board
Who Governs the Governor’s Council is a volunteer, nonpartisan group that educates voters about the role and importance of the Governor’s Council. We cannot comment on the Globe’s Aug. 16 endorsement of a candidate in the Third District (“Mara Dolan for Governor’s Council”), but we welcome the recognition of the office of Governor’s Councilor and the need for change in the way the body operates and behaves, regardless of who is elected this year.
We must also point out that the Board of Governors has more than the “two important responsibilities” mentioned in the editorial. For many people who want to abolish the system of mass incarceration that continues to plague some communities in the Commonwealth, the Board of Governors’ role in confirming members of the parole board is also an important responsibility.
Lawyers and activists have long recognized the importance of this role and have called on the Board of Governors to ensure the necessary balance of expertise on the board. For years, the parole board was dominated by members who came from the law enforcement branch of the legal system, particularly prosecutors – a pattern that continues today and can be traced to a series of approvals by the Board of Governors.
We can only hope that in the run-up to the elections, the Globe will continue to highlight the importance of this body in all its dimensions.
David J. Harris
Medford
The author is a member of the “Who Governs the Governor’s Council”.
The Council has shown a blatant lack of diversity
I appreciate the Globe’s attention to the Board of Governors with its Aug. 16 editorial endorsing Mara Dolan in the Democratic primary. As your editorial points out, the Board of Governors operates in secret, and most voters don’t know who their board member is or what they do. Yet its role in confirming judges and parole board members, and in deciding on commutations and pardons, makes it a key player in shaping the criminal justice system.
However, I wish the Globe had pointed out the glaring lack of racial diversity on the council. In its nearly 400-year history, it appears as though only one person of color has served a two-year term on the council. Despite communities of color being disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system, these communities are underrepresented.
Stacey Borden is running against 32-year incumbent Christopher Iannella in the Fourth District. Not only is she a person of color from Dorchester, one of the communities with the highest police presence in the Commonwealth, but she is also a former prisoner herself.
As founder and executive director of New Beginnings Reentry Services, a program for former inmates, she brings experience that could have a profound impact on the council, which has for too long simply rubber-stamped the governor’s nominations.
Laura Berland
Lincoln
The author serves as volunteer treasurer for Borden’s campaign.
