BAR GROUPS SLAM CALLS FOR JUDGE’S REMOVAL
Two top legal groups in Massachusetts are warning impeachment calls to remove a Salem judge over sentencing of a heroin dealer “threaten judicial independence” and are “constitutionally inappropriate.”
Massachusetts Bar Association President Christopher P. Sullivan and Committee for Public Counsel Services Chief Counsel Anthony J. Benedetti slammed in a joint statement the uproar over Salem Superior Court Judge Timothy Q. Feeley’s sentencing of 33-year-old Manuel SotoVittini last month.
“The calls for Judge Feeley’s impeachment by some legislators and the filing of a bill of address to remove Judge Feeley for his lawful sentencing decision are dangerous steps in the wrong direction and are constitutionally inappropriate,” Sullivan and Benedetti wrote.
In May, Feeley sentenced Soto-Vittini to two years of probation for two counts of possession with intent to distribute. When he was arrested in 2015 police found heroin, cocaine and cash in his car. In a pre-sentencing hearing in February, Feeley told Soto-Vittini’s defense attorney he’d probably hand a “citizen” jail time for a similar conviction. SotoVittini is a legal permanent resident with a green card.
State Reps. Jim Lyons and Geoff Diehl are circulating a petition and gathering backers for a “bill of address” that — if it gains a majority of the House and Senate, as well as approval from Gov. Charlie Baker and the Governor’s Council — could push Feeley off the bench. At least six judges have been removed this way since the late 18th century.
The leadership of the Massachusetts Bar Association and CPCS — which together represent lawyers, defense attorneys, judges and legal professionals — disagree that Feeley’s sentence calls for such a harsh response.
“No public official should be impeached just because many people disagree with the decision that was made in an honest and non-corrupt manner. Removing Judge Feeley for lawfully exercising his discretion sets a dangerous precedent of bowing to an uninformed mob,” the organizations’ leaders said in the statement.
“Thankfully,” they added, “our constitutions protect the rights of the minority against the naked will of the majority, and they ensure we have the right to be heard by an impartial judge guided by the rule of law and free from the influence of even the loudest public outcry.”