Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, today released the following statement in response to Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ “Hinton Lab Initiative” to vacate drug convictions resulting from any analysis conducted at the Hinton Lab between May 1, 2003, and August 30, 2012:
“We applaud District Attorney Rachael Rollins for pledging to vacate Suffolk County drug convictions potentially impacted by Hinton Lab misconduct. We hope other district attorneys follow suit, allowing more people to move forward with their lives. The ACLU of Massachusetts stands ready to work with District Attorney Rollins—and any other interested district attorney—to make sure that this relief reaches affected people.
"During the Massachusetts drug lab scandals, thousands of people were wrongfully convicted of drug crimes based on faulty evidence and a government cover-up. In response to these massive scandals, the ACLU of Massachusetts, the public defenders, and our law firm partners called for mass exoneration to right these wrongful convictions—and after years of litigation, more than 61,000 charges were dismissed across more than 35,000 cases. Although we cannot recover all the time, housing, jobs, and other opportunities that were wrongfully taken from people, this litigation has delivered some justice to them.”
