Former Springfield mayoral aide Darryl Moss’s lawsuit against Mayor Domenic Sarno appears just about ready to inch out of the pleading phase. After a judge dismissed some of Moss’s suit in December, he repleaded to revive his First Amendment claims.
In a 5-2 ruling, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reinstated criminal charges arising from the COVID-19 outbreak that killed 76 veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. Former Superintendent Bennett Walsh and former medical director David Clinton were the only officials to face such charges. Hampden County Superior Court Judge Edward McDonough, Jr. dismissed the indictment in 2021 prompting the appeal.
The city of Springfield successfully whittled down the claims former mayoral aide Darryl Moss has alleged, but the meat of the suit endures. Moss, who held multiple roles in Mayor Domenic Sarno’s office, was shown the door after a controversial Facebook post.
BOSTON—On the eve of Governor Charlie Baker’s last day as governor—and Attorney General Maura Healey’s first—the Supreme Judicial Court considered an appeal in the waning litigation from the COVID-19 outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. The indictments reflect one of the Baker administration’s darkest hours.
In September, Britons uttered a phrase they had not uttered in 70 years. “God, Save the King” became the national anthem with the passing of Queen Elizabeth, II. But in Springfield, residents have been crooning this a tad longer.
The death of George Floyd reverberated into Springfield as it had the rest of the country. When the issue crossed Springfield’s employee social media policy, people would lose jobs. Among them was Darryl Moss.
The legal drama around the criminal indictments arising from the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home COVID-19 outbreak has flown under the radar since the appeal began. The case, however, jolted a bit in public view again as Healey’s office sought direct review from the Supreme Judicial Court.
With the clock possibly ticking down on his party’s majority, a Washington appeals court has ruled House Ways & Means Chairman Richard Neal has a right to Donald Trump’s tax returns. The decision was the latest turn in a three year quest to obtain the real estate tycoon and provocateur’s tax records.
It cannot be said more plainly. The Supreme Court has discredited itself. Its conservative majority has overreached and abused its role and the solemn respect the institution has accumulated over time. The evidence for this is not merely overturning Roe v. Wade. I
Just over two years since the coronavirus ripped its way through Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, the herd of legal action underway has begun to thin. Last week, families of the 76 veterans who contracted COVID-19 during the deadly March 2020 outbreak settled with the commonwealth for $56 million.