Man Claims He was Wrongly Labeled a Sex Offender, Jailed for Two Months

(Author’s Note: The following report is on a case that is civil, not criminal)

An anonymous man is suing the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board claiming it miscategorized him as a sex offender, leading him to spend over two months in jail.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston Tuesday under the pseudonym “John Doe,” claims a 50-year-old illiterate homeless man who lives in Boston was wrongly classified as a level 3 sex offender in Massachusetts and was charged with failing to register at least three times.

In September 2008, the man was convicted and spent 73 days in Suffolk County jail, according to the filing written by attorney John Bita.

The root of the alleged error can be found in 1982, when the unidentified man was convicted in Bronx County, N.Y. on a count of endangering the welfare of a child, the lawsuit said. He was also charged with sexual abuse, rape and public lewdness, but was not convicted, the filing said.

The closest Massachusetts law to endangering the welfare of a child is “reckless endangerment of children,” which isn’t a sex crime, and even if it was, the requirement to register as a sex offender would have expired 20 years after the conviction, the lawsuit said.

While jailed on unrelated charges in 2006 in Suffolk County, the man was instructed to sign two forms related to registering as a sex offender, and, having a fifth grade education and being functionally illiterate, he agreed, the lawsuit said.

The state’s sex offender registry board tried to send the man two letters in 2007, notifying him he must register and that he had failed to register. But they were both returned to sender.

In September 2008, the man was convicted in Suffolk County for failing to register as a sex offender and spent 73 days in jail.

But in either 2010 or 2011, an attorney for the man reviewed his file and realized he was not required to register. He notified the sex offender registry board, who sent a letter admitting the man did not have to register because the Bronx conviction of endangerment of a child occurred well over 20 years ago, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also names Public Safety Secretary Mary Heffernan, former secretary Kevin Burke, sex offender registry board chair Saundra Edwards and former chair Jennifer Franco.

It calls for the registry board to expunge the man’s sex offender status and for the court to award any damages it sees fit.

New England Teamsters Sue Waste Management

Author’s Note: The following report is based on a complaint filed by the New England Teamsters, not any branch of law enforcement or state prosecution. The case is civil, not criminal.

A truckers union is suing Waste Management, alleging the waste hauling giant has failed to make pension payments for some employees.

The New England Teamsters Local 379 is demanding Waste Management pay what they owe, plus interest and legal expenses, according to a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Boston.

A collective bargaining agreement between Waste Management and the Teamsters called for the waste company to make contributions on behalf of certain employees to  its pension fund and to pay late charges for contributions not timely paid, the complaint, said the complaint, submitted by attorney Catherine Campbell.

The failure of payments came to light as result of a payroll audit, the complaint said. It does not specify how much money the Teamsters allege Waste Management owes.

The complaint calls for Waste Management to pay the unpaid contributions with interest, liquidated damages in an amount equal to the greater of interest on the unpaid contributions or 20% of the unpaid contributions, and to cover legal fees.

The Over-the-Top Coverage of Whitey Bulger

The excessive coverage of the case of James “Whitey” Bulger became apparent Friday afternoon, when news outlets around Boston began to blow up with coverage of Whitey’s girlfriend, Catherine Greig, for no apparent reason.

On Wednesday, Greig  – who is charged with harboring a fugitive – agreed to remain jailed while her attorney prepares further evidence to support a motion for her release (she wants to be held to the confinement of her sister’s Squantum home and wear a GPS bracelet).

On Friday, things were EXACTLY the same. But the world of Boston media didn’t see it that way.

At the conclusion of a detention hearing Wednesday, Greig’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, said his client would agree to voluntary detention, but that a motion for her release remain in consideration until he submits more evidence to support it. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal granted the request. And it was reported by pretty much every media outlet in Boston.

That agreement was filed in writing Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Boston, as an order of voluntary detention entered by Boal. It provided nearly nothing new – only that when the defense does submit new evidence, prosecutors will have three days to file a response (who cares?).

At least a dozen reporters witnessed the events in the courtroom Wednesday morning. When they read the filing Friday, you’d think they would have recognized it as a written version of what they already saw.

Yet, here’s some of the headlines from Twitter/Webpages Friday afternoon:

• WHDH.com top of the homepage – Bulger’s girlfriend to remain held without bail
• @WBZNewsRadio BREAKING: Longtime Bulger companion ordered held without bail pending trial.
• Front page, Boston.com – Catherine Greig ordered held without bail
• Fox25′s Bob Ward – @BWard3 No Bail for #WhiteyBulger girlfriend, Catherine Greig. US Judge issues ruling. #Fox25

If this is the way they plan to do things for the coming years as Whitey and Cathy become regulars at the federal courthouse, it’s going to get awfully redundant – and confusing.