Why would you want to hire a Massachusetts criminal lawyer?

For many reasons!

  • If you are not a U.S. citizen, you don’t want to be deported, or denied citizenship.
  • If you have a student loan, you can’t afford to lose it.
  • If you live in subsidized housing, you don’t want to be evicted. After all, where will you and your family live? And, you don’t want to lose your job… or your good reputation, you need to get legal advice from a lawyer.
  • But, above all, you don’t want to go to jail!

Massachusetts’ Prisons

According to Campaign for the Future, Massachusetts prisons have a lot to answer for, which is why you really need a Massachusetts criminal lawyer. If you are older, mentally ill or disabled, consider this: The elderly are among the fastest growing segment of the prison population… with nearly a quarter of all prisoners aged over 55. If you don’t think 55 sounds that old, then bear in mind those in prison have a physiological age some seven to ten years older than their chronological age, with the medical problems that accompany them. As the most vulnerable segment of society, their needs in prison go largely unmet.

For those suffering from mental health issues or disabilities, prison will present severe difficulties and little assistance, compromising both their security and safety. In prison, adequate medical care, disabled access and medical release are generally not options. This group is often the same one that did not have their medical needs met when they were younger. As a result, they are much more likely to suffer than their counterparts on the outside.

Massachusetts is one of only five states that does not have a compassionate release law for the aged. Consequently, hiring a Massachusetts criminal lawyer might just help to ensure that you are not one of an aging prison population, which languishes in jail. Just think, between 1995 and 2010, the U.S. prison population grew by 42% and the number of prisoners over the age of 55 grew by seven times that amount. If the elderly prison population continues to grow at that rate, then in another fifteen years, they will constitute about a third of all prisoners.

The female prison population is growing at twice the rate of men, and despite living in the twenty-first century, women are much less likely to receive help in prison for substance abuse than men. Whereas men will receive treatment for drink and drug abuse especially those who caught for DUI, the same help is generally not offered to women. Some 75 % of women in prison suffer from mental health issues, compared to around 60% of men, and more than half have chronic or communicable disease. For men, this figure is around 40%. Many women in prison are also mothers. So not only do these women suffer but their families pay a heavy price, as well. Also, as a black woman, you are about 3 times more likely to be incarcerated than your white counterpart.

Hire a Massachusetts criminal lawyer!

For all these reasons, you want to hire a Massachusetts criminal lawyer and give yourself the best opportunity to prove your innocence…and not go to jail!