A rare court protocol that reshaped Massachusetts’ criminal justice system during a yearlong work stoppage of defense attorneys has officially ended.
In an order issued Monday, Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt lifted the Lavallee protocol, writing that there was no longer “an ongoing systemic violation” of constitutional rights. Wendlandt said “the work stoppage prompting the institution of the Lavallee protocol has ended” and that “the number of unrepresented indigent defendants has remained low for a consistent period of time.”
A hearing previously scheduled for Sept. 16 was canceled, with Wendlandt commending the parties for their “cooperative efforts to end the crisis and get counsel to indigent criminal defendants in need of representation.”…