Over the objections of some members who want fewer law enforcement voices on the Massachusetts Parole Board, the Governor's Council on Wednesday delivered Governor Charlie Baker a win by narrowly confirming his nominee, Springfield prosecutor Karen McCarthy.
McCarthy, the chief prosecutor in Springfield District Court, had a bumpy road to the Parole Board, and her confirmation was in doubt coming into Wednesday. A number of councilors were on record opposing her nomination and Gov. Baker was out of the country and unavailable to help break a potential tie.
The governor's absence turned out not to matter with Councilors Eileen Duff and Terrence Kennedy providing the swing votes in favor of McCarthy that secured her 5-3 confirmation and left opponents one vote short of blocking her appointment.
"She is qualified for this job," said Kennedy, a Lynnfield Democrat who admitted to struggling with McCarthy's nomination.
Duff and Kennedy joined Councilors Mary Hurley, Jennie Caissie and Joseph Ferreira in supporting McCarthy. Councilors Robert Jubinville, Christopher Iannella and Marilyn Devaney voted no.
Before leaving for London this week, Baker renominated Charlene Bonner, a forensic psychologist and addictive disorder specialist, to continue serving on the board that she has served on since 2011. Kennedy said that move factored into his decision to support McCarthy.
"I think that sends a message about what the administration's intent is with respect to the Parole Board, and that was a big factor as I was weighing how I was going to vote on this particular nominee," he said.
Kennedy also said he was feeling "confident" after discussions with the administration that they understand the need to diversify the Parole Board, and not simply stack it with prosecutors and law enforcement officials.
McCarthy's term is set to run only through Sept. 14, 2020, and Bonner will go before the Governor's Council for a hearing on July 10 seeking a new, full five-year term. Baker has one more pick he could make immediately for the Parole Board to fill the spot currently held by Tina Hurley, a former parole officer and hearing examiner whose term expired on June 1.
Duff, a Gloucester Democrat, was the only member of the council not to make a statement before the vote, and when she voted in favor of McCarthy she surprised many in the room who thought she'd be voting against.
Duff had left a strong impression after last week's contentious hearing that she would be opposing McCarthy's nomination, and at the time called it "deeply disturbing" that Bonner had not yet been renominated, despite her term expiring over a year ago.
"As anyone knows my history with the Parole Board that I take this very, very seriously. I've done a ton of research on it and I'm in this for the long game for the Parole Board, so I think after a lot of deliberation this was the right vote to make," Duff told reporters afterward.
Duff said she had to leave McCarthy's hearing early last Wednesday, but took time over the past week to ask her the questions she had and was "very satisfied" with McCarthy's answers.
After the hearing, Duff was confronted by one woman who was counting on her to vote no. "You don't really want her on the board. I don't understand," she told Duff.
"You can't tell me what I want and what I don't want," Duff shot back.
While the Parole Board's statistics show an uptick in recent years of positive parole votes to 68 percent for those incarcerated in jails and 52 percent in prisons, prisoner advocates say the rate is closer to 38 percent of inmates who actually get released, not just approved for release.
Prisoners' Legal Services Executive Director Elizabeth Matos said that's because the Parole Board "routinely approves someone for parole but with conditions that they cannot meet," such as a completion of a program that's not available.
Opponents to McCarthy's nomination were concerned about adding another career prosecutor to the professional mix on the Parole Board, and were also bothered by McCarthy's reaction to members of the council who told her they would not be supporting her.
McCarthy, choking back tears, accused those members last week of treating her differently than they would have a white man. Councilor Mary Hurley, a supporter of McCarthy's, also slammed her colleagues and said she was ashamed to be part of the Governor's Council.
"She hasn't been told no too many times in the job she's in and she didn't like being told no that day and she got mad about it and she was going to have her say," Jubinville said. "Hardly the kind of candidate we want sitting at a parole lifer hearing and the lifer starts getting upset. That's not temperament. That's distemper."
Iannella said he opposed McCarthy from the moment she was nominated because he believes the Parole Board needs more members trained in social sciences.
"It's an easy vote. It's an easy vote to vote yes. It happens a lot here. The courageous vote is to say no. Send the governor a message that enough is enough," Iannella said.
Devaney read a lengthy statement that took offense to McCarthy's suggestion that the council treated her differently than other nominees, and said the Baker administration was taking the Parole Board "backwards" by replacing members like Lee Gartenberg, who worked in inmate legal services, and Lucy Soto-Abbe, a victim and witness advocate, with law enforcement and parole professionals.
"The way people are treated in this administration, Dunkin Donuts would not disrespect their employees as has been done here," Devaney said.
Hurley called McCarthy "extremely qualified" for the Parole Board, and said she had "a lot of common sense" and a record of giving people second chances. And Ferreira, a former police chief, said, "I don't ever want to go to another police funeral because we let someone out."
After the vote, Polito said she had gained more respect for each of the councilors through the process and she listened to their arguments for and against McCarthy.
"Some who are here in this room may leave feeling disappointed. I want you to feel that you were capable of participating in the process and that this process worked as it was intended to," Polito said.
This report was originally published by State House News Service.
