Who Governs the Governor’s Council? education event

The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts (LWVMA), in partnership with the advocacy organization Who Governs the Governor’s Council (WGGC), hosted the Zoom event, “Who Governs the Governor’s Council?” to educate voters on what the Governor’s Council is and does, and how it affects the legal system. Watch the recording here. View the presentation slides here. 

Panelists were David Harris, Emeritus Managing Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School; Jean Trounstine, author, activist and professor who writes about the Governor’s Council and Parole for the Boston Institute of Nonprofit Journalism; and Nancy Bettinger, LWVMA criminal legal system legislative specialist.  

Modeled after the 2022 ACLU public education program, What a Difference a DA Makes, this event explained the role of the Governor’s Council in lifetime judicial appointments, the Parole Board, and commutations and pardons.