POLICING POLITO
Dems rip run of court jobs going to Lt. gov’s circle via council
Gov. Charlie Baker is defending how plum judicial jobs are filled in the state’s court system after three clerk-magistrate candidates with ties to Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito each landed a lifetime appointment to the $152,000-plus-a-year posts.
“It’s so blatant,” Governor’s Councilor Marilyn Devaney told the Herald of the clerk slots that went to Polito’s college roommate, her son’s youth football coach and a governor’s councilor. The lieutenant governor chairs the Governor’s Council — the board that approves those positions.
“I see good people thrown off of boards by this administration because of their friends. If this council voted no, that’s how you stop it, but this council has not voted down a member of a commission, a board, a judge, a clerk-magistrate in the entire Baker administration,” Devaney added.
Shrewsbury Police Detective Lt. Joseph McCarthy Jr., who coached Polito’s son in youth football in their hometown, won the Westboro District Court clerk-magistrate job. Sharon Shelfer Casey, the lieutenant governor’s college friend and former executive director of the Judicial Nominating Commission, landed the top clerk’s post at Cambridge District Court.
Governor’s Councilor Jen Caissie was appointed to the clerk-magistrate’s seat in Dudley District Court. There are currently nine clerk-magistrate positions still open, according to the governor’s office.
Baker defended the process Monday, arguing that candidates have to submit a “blind application,” with the Judicial Nominating Commission, composed of 21 people he appoints to screen candidates, and requires sign-off from the Joint Bar Committee and the vote of the Governor’s Council.
“There are many checks and balances,” Baker said. “I think the process we have is a good one.”
But Deveney countered, “Where is the blind process? I guess it’s blind for the public, and that bothers me. That’s not what I signed up for when I ran for this office.”