Richard Sinnott
Do you have a photo that could go here? Click here to submit it for this profile!
Richard Sinnott is a judge of the Boston Municipal Court. He was nominated by Gov. Charlie Baker (R) on March 1, 2017, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Patricia E. Bernstein. Sinnott's nomination was unanimously approved by the Governor's Council on April 12, 2017.[1][2][1][3]
Biography
Sinnott earned an A.A. and a B.A. in government from Norwich University and a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.[1]
Sinnott's experience includes owning a firm, the Sinnott Law Office, and working as an investigator for the Suffolk District Attorney's Office. He has also served as a lieutenant colonel and judge advocate in the U.S. Army Reserve and an instructor for the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies, the U.S. Military Academy, the Harvard Law School Center for Criminal Justice, and the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council.[1]
Noteworthy cases
Judge declines to dismiss charges against protestors at a straight pride parade
On September 3, 2019, Judge Richard Sinnott declined to dismiss charges brought against a majority of protestors arrested during a straight pride parade in Boston which ended in a clash with local police officers. Out of nearly three dozen protestors who came before Sinnott in the courtroom, he dismissed charges against two. Prosecutors were asking for the dismissal of nonviolent charges against seven other people in exchange for eight hours of community service.[4]
Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins had asked Sinnott to dismiss the charges and expressed disagreement with the judge's decision. "By compelling arraignment in every case, the judge punished the exercise of individuals' First Amendment right to protest," she said.[5]
The police union in Boston was pleased with Sinnott's decision. "We think these offenders that are here, most of them outside the city of Boston, not residents here, came here as agitators, here for a specific reason, here to create havoc," Boston Police Patrolmen's Association spokesman Larry Calderone said.[6]
On September 9, 2019, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Frank M. Gaziano vacated Sinnott's ruling in the case of one of the protestors, Roderick Webber. Gaziano ruled that Sinnott did not have the authority to reject a prosecutor's entry of "nolle prosequi," or to not prosecute a case. Gaziano wrote, "The prosecutor's sole authority to determine which cases to prosecute, and when not to pursue a prosecution, has been affirmed repeatedly by this court since the beginning of the nineteenth century."[7]
On September 24, 2019, the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct opened an investigation into Sinnott related to his declining to dismiss the charges against the protestors. The commission released a statement that said it was investigating allegations related to Sinnott's "handling of criminal arraignments in the Central Division of the Boston Municipal Court on September 3 and 4, 2019, including his alleged actions in connection with Attorney Susan Church being taken into custody during a hearing at the Central Division of the Boston Municipal Court on September 4, 2019.[8]
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Governor Charlie Baker, "Governor Baker Makes Two Judicial Nominations," March 1, 2017 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "appoint" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Massachusetts Court System, "Boston Municipal Court Justices," accessed May 15, 2017
- ↑ Patrick McCabe's Governor's Council, "April 12, 2017," April 12, 2017
- ↑ Boston Globe, "Judge refuses to dismiss charges against protesters at Straight Pride Parade," September 3, 2019
- ↑ Washington Examiner, "UPDATED: Boston judge declines calls to drop charges against dozens of 'straight pride parade' counterprotesters," updated September 4, 2019
- ↑ NBC News, "Charges won't be dropped for 'Straight Pride Parade' counterprotesters," September 4, 2019
- ↑ WBUR, "Mass. High Court Sides With Suffolk DA Rollins In Battle With Judge Over Protester Charge," September 9, 2019
- ↑ Mass Live, "Mass. Commission on Judicial Conduct investigates Judge Richard Sinnott, who refused to drop charges against Straight Pride counterprotesters," September 24, 2019
Federal courts:
First Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Massachusetts • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Massachusetts
State courts:
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court • Massachusetts Appeals Court • Massachusetts Superior Courts • Massachusetts District Courts • Massachusetts Housing Courts • Massachusetts Juvenile Courts • Massachusetts Land Courts • Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts • Boston Municipal Courts, Massachusetts
State resources:
Courts in Massachusetts • Massachusetts judicial elections • Judicial selection in Massachusetts
