Local public defender organizes Hampden County Defenders for Black Lives rally

SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- A group of people gathered in Court Square for the Hampden County Defenders rally for Black lives.

Western Mass News spoke with a public defender who organized the event about the changes that she would like to see be made in the judicial system.

Court Square was filled with people holding up signs asking for change in the criminal justice system.

Courts across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts reopened to the public on Monday after being shut down due to the pandemic.

“Me and some of my other colleagues who are public defenders here in Hampden County, we really want to capitalize off of the international and multiracial protest over George Floyd’s murder and Breonna Taylor’s murder because the Court House has been closed for the past four months,” Public Defender Allison Wright said. “It happened today. We thought this was the perfect time to send a message that now is the time to not go back to the status quote that we want things to change.”

Wright put together the Hampden County Defenders for Black Lives rally.

She told Western Mass News things need to change in the courts on how Black and brown people are treated.

“I think statistically, first of all, it’s already shown that Black people, in particular, have disparate sentencing than their white counterparts,” she said. “White people already come in that are facing harsher sentencing for judges and a lot of studies point to their racial bias.”

Wright believes change starts with bail being set once someone is arraigned.

“The status should be particularly when they enter the system who are arrested and arraigned that the status should be that they are released or set on bail, and honestly that is not the status quo,” she said.

In the courtroom, she said there is a deep need for translators.

“There is a huge need for more Spanish interpreters in general,” she said. “In the court, Springfield has a large Latino population and has a need for more Spanish interpreters to make sure our clients are understanding their rights and understand what they are being charged with.”

Wright said the rally was to send a clear message that Black lives matter, and the system can’t go back to normal.