After the four years of intense work on the Hinton drug lab crisis—including in a January 2017 court victory by the ACLU of Massachusetts, Fick & Marx LLP, and the state public defenders— the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court together with defense attorneys and prosecutors today launched a first-of-its-kind notice campaign informing unfairly convicted people that they have a path to justice.
The information campaign follows the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court final order in April to dismiss nearly 22,000 drug cases tainted by former state chemist Annie Dookhan.
The campaign – backed by the ACLU of Massachusetts – features letters, a video from the court’s Chief Justice, and targeted ads on social media designed to inform defendants in more than 300 cases that they can challenge their convictions in court. The defendants whose cases are being dismissed outright are also receiving notice.
“In April, we celebrated a major victory for fairness and for thousands of people in the Commonwealth who were convicted of drug offenses based on falsified and fabricated evidence,” said Carol Rose, executive director of ACLU of Massachusetts. “Today, we again mark a path to justice for the thousands who were part of the single largest dismissal of wrongful convictions in the nation’s history – and who now have an opportunity to more easily rebuild their lives.”
For more information about the case and to view a full timeline of the scandal, click here.
If you were convicted of a drug crime between 2003 and 2012, it may have been dismissed! Call 1-888-999-2881 or click here to find out.
