As a retired jurist and a resident of Lexington, I wish to address a public health emergency, which has taken root in Lexington. I hope that residents will stand on the right side of history, after understanding the merits of the Medical Civil Rights Act, and the consequences of failing to enact it.

On April 18th, there was another fatal mental health crisis here. The death of Colin Barthelemy occurred near where Brendan Reilly was shot and killed by police officers a few years ago. Recently, there have been dramatically rising numbers of fatal psychiatric emergencies in Massachusetts. Despite these facts, lawmakers continue to obfuscate and distract from the mortality data trending woefully in the wrong direction. They also provide no substantive reason for repeatedly ignoring a landmark civil rights bill which our Initiative authored, the Medical Civil Rights Act, which has been before them since 2021. These same lawmakers also ignore its companion bill, which our initiative also drafted, to allow crucial data to be collected and studied. 

Troublingly, the available data paint a picture regarding how prior reform has failed. Good money has been thrown at bad solutions. Many advocacy groups have sprung up with similar reasoning, policies and approaches, without understanding how and when they apply, or do not apply; they have often failed to understand the underlying issues of law and procedure, and thus the data continue to march along in a dire direction. Further, despite the legal requirement to report in-custody deaths, pursuant to the Death in Custody Reporting Act, deaths have been misreported, or not reported whatsoever, and certain legal measures obscure an accurate understanding of the sharp uptick of deaths and dying in custody in Massachusetts. Aside from the vast money already spent, lives continue to be needlessly lost and then summarily forgotten.

In the aftermath of these tragedies, families and officers have been routinely churned through the courts. The same lack of legal clarity which could have prevented these deaths in the first place then limits judges from making what may be viewed as just decisions. In other words, a person who has pled for emergency medical care prior to death had no legal right to it, under state and federal law —excepting in Connecticut, where the Medical Civil Rights Act was enacted. Consequently, jurists cannot hinge decisions on this very issue. Oftentimes, no remedy is provided to the families aggrieved by a loss. However, when there is a payout, it risks bankrupting a municipality, while doing nothing to prevent future loss of life. Poor medical outcomes have accrued in number, among both civilians and officers. Litigants struggle with burdensome legal fees, illnesses afflict them, and a disproportionate number of suicides continue to occur among first responders in the state. For too long, lives have been shattered, and billions wastefully spent. Quite literally, as soon as human remains are removed from the scene, profiteering lawyers and advocacy groups promise that justice will be rendered—how?  By whom? There is no remedy for a life that has been lost. When the law is unclear, deficient or based on wrong-headedness, the deaths go on. 

For many years, Massachusetts lawmakers have chosen, quite deliberately, to not act and to implement measures, many of which have already failed in other U.S. jurisdictions. Connecticut however did not fall into those traps, and post-enactment, police-involved deaths have decreased. 

I presided for almost 40 years on the Massachusetts Court of Appeals, and my family has a long history of working to advance civil rights change. I know the intricate games of lobbyists, advocates and lawmaking—I also know which bills will stand up to judicial review and will curtail significant problems in the state. The Medical Civil Rights Act is one of them. As well, amending data reporting requirements is needed, to prevent future deaths, and to avert reckless spending that has the appearance of problem-solving. As constituents, I hope that you will refuse to accept the pretense that there is no emergent public health issue or that your taxpayer dollars are already wisely spent—or worse yet, that there is no viable solution to prevent these deaths. After the deaths of Colin Barthelemy and Brendan Reilly, your lawmakers did not say a word to the public. They have also refused to deliberate or support these bills, which have sat on their desks far too long. Bring these facts into the light, urge enactment of these bills, and most importantly, ask the question:  must it take one more death for our lawmakers to act?

Respectfully submitted, on behalf of the Medical Civil Rights Initiative and a cohort of Lexington Residents,

Honorable Frederick L. Brown

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  1. Pingback: What is the Medical Civil Rights Act? - The Lexington Observer
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