It’s been nearly two months since criminal defense lawyers across Massachusetts stopped taking on new cases in protest over low pay — and the consequences are mounting.
More than 2,000 people are currently without legal representation, dozens of defendants have been released and over 100 cases have been thrown out.
Among those released is a man accused of beating a pregnant woman and a woman once listed on the Boston Police Department’s most wanted list. Dismissed cases include allegations of stabbings, public attacks on women and a woman accused of trying to set a family member on fire. Even the state’s public defender agency can no longer provide counsel in most cases in two counties, and a third has been completely maxed out…