The Dookhan legacy
The ACLU and defense lawyers are pleased as punch that thousands of criminal drug cases are now being dismissed on a technicality — in many cases despite the defendants’ admitted guilt. What a bizarre thing to celebrate.
Tuesday was the deadline — set by the Supreme Judicial Court — for state prosecutors to list any cases that could proceed in the absence of evidence tainted by Annie Dookhan, the state drug lab chemist who went to prison for tampering with evidence.
The ACLU, public defenders and others had been seeking a blanket dismissal of every case that Dookhan touched. Prosecutors were content with going case-by-case, leaving it to individual defendants to challenge their convictions. After a drawn-out legal process, the SJC eventually set a deadline for prosecutors to identify viable cases, and dismiss the rest.
And so 21,587 cases will simply be erased. Prosecutors hope to preserve convictions in only a few hundred cases, where untainted evidenced is sufficient to support them.
The outcome seemed sadly inevitable, given how wide Dookhan’s path of destruction was. Defendants are entitled, of course, to justice free of any cloud of suspicion over the evidence.
But the reaction to the collapse of so many criminal cases was oddly giddy. The ACLU of Massachusetts was variously “overjoyed,” “thrilled” and declared “victory,” calling it “a good day for justice in Massachusetts for thousands of people who have been wronged by the criminal punishment system.”
No mention of the millions of people who go to sleep tonight wondering how many actual criminals are getting away with their crimes.
The advocates say the Dookhan case highlights the need to overhaul the entire criminal justice system. State leaders should “stop arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating people for drug offenses,” wrote the ACLU’s Kade Crockford. “... s ubstance abuse requires a public health response and will never be solved by chains and cages.”
Swell. So until the day arrives when drug abuse and addiction are but unfortunate memories police should keep their handcuffs holstered? The citizens of Massachusetts will be “overjoyed” about that.