(Twitter.com/@RepGeoffDiehl)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- A group of 40 state representatives are asking Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo to consider a resolution that would force the removal of a Superior Court judge who declined to give jail time to a convicted heroin dealer.
Republicans presented three mothers--two of whom lost their children to opiate abuse--at the State House Monday as part of their effort to gain recognition for a Bill of Address to remove Judge Timothy Feeley. Feeley said he would have sentenced the dealer to prison if he had been a U.S. citizen, which was enough for Republican lawmakers to seek his impeachment.
Sherry Danforth of Danvers lost a daughter to opioid abuse.
"His decisions are not logical, they're not right, and they're not fair," she said.
Andover Rep. Jim Lyons made the case for the GOP.
"How many times does [Judge Feeley] mention the people that were dead from heroin?" Lyons said. "How many times did he talk about that during his disposition? Well I read it, he never did. The only concern he had is about [the convicted dealer's] immigration status."
But the legislative session is winding down, and the group has little backing from the party that controls the house--only two of the group of 40 reps belonged to the House's majority. In addition, the Bar Association says that impeachment would set a dangerous precedent.
Feeley's defenders say the effort to remove him fails to consider his full history--and that, in giving the immigrant dealer probation, he was following the recommendation of prosecutors.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bill Marcus (@BillinChina) reports