Evening Briefs: SJC COVID-19 Ruling | March Tax Collections

SJC: Pre-Trial Detainees May Seek Release Due to COVID-19

Individuals facing nonviolent criminal charges and held on bail ahead of a trial can seek release during the coronavirus outbreak, the state's high court ruled Friday, but civil rights groups were disappointed the decision did not go further. The Supreme Judicial Court ordered any pretrial detainee, excluding those who are held without bail or those who are charged with offenses including use or threat of violence, to receive a hearing on potential release from custody within two days of filing a motion. Under the court's order, the Department of Correction and county sheriffs much each file daily reports listing the number of COVID-19 tests conducted and positive results for staff, correctional officers and people in custody. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by several civil rights and criminal defense groups who had asked for up to one-half of the current incarcerated population to be released to prevent exposure to the highly infectious coronavirus. In a press release, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the Committee for Public Counsel Services and the Mass. Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers welcomed the relief but described it as insufficient. "We are glad that this decision affords some relief for pretrial detainees, as well as important reporting requirements," Matthew Segal, the ACLUM's legal director, said in the release. "But we believe it falls short of what is necessary to prevent more illness and death among people in custody, correctional staff members, and the broader community. We urge every branch of Massachusetts government to do what it can to save the lives of people inside Massachusetts detention facilities, and in so doing to keep all of us safer." - Chris Lisinski/SHNS

March Tax Collections Beat Benchmark by $83 Mil

The hit from COVID-19 on the state's finances didn't fully materialize in March, but state tax collectors acknowledged Friday that it's coming. The Department of Revenue announced that collections for March totaled $2.66 billion, which is only $8 million less than what was collected in March 2019, and $83 million or 3.2 percent above the state's monthly benchmark. Through three quarters of the fiscal year, DOR said Massachusetts tax receipts have totaled $21.064 billion, which is $878 million or 4.3 percent more than the same year-to-date point in 2019, and $235 million or 1.1 percent above the year-to-date benchmark. "Most major categories of revenue performed roughly as expected in March and the corporate and business taxes were the primary contributor to the above-benchmark performance," Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder said. "With approximately 70% of revenue collections in the door for Fiscal Year 2020 through March, we have seen overall steady, moderate growth above the prior year." Snyder acknowledged, though, that revenue collections moving forward will be impacted by the economic disruptions seen as essential to staunching the spread of the coronavirus, including sales, meals, and room taxes deferrals, and the extension of the personal income tax filing deadline into the next fiscal year. "We will monitor the economic conditions and the impact of COVID-19 and tax deferrals on tax collections very closely for the rest of the fiscal year 2020 and into the next fiscal year," Snyder said. - Colin A. Young/SHNS

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4/3/2020