Rep. James Fagan, who once squealed with delight at the chance to cross-examine a child victim of sexual abuse (http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2008/06/ma-rep-james-fagan-d-taunton-on.html), is back at his bully pulpit again, this time trying to make his side gig as a defense attorney easier by making it harder for crime victims to testify against his clients(http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1160659).
As a defense attorney, Fagan surely knows that victim witness advocates shepherd the victims of crime through a system that only an insider can navigate easily. Surely he knows that VWAs are the ones who ensure victims are present at all the relevant court dates, and that a huge number of criminal cases would be dismissed if the victims were not present. Surely he knows that he’s really suggesting a way to sidestep the responsibility to defend his cases ethically. Surely someone out there will realize that while frauds like Fagan vote to increase the Legislature’s budget year after year after year after year, the state’s district attorneys are losing funding at the same time.
Surely someone will call out this filth and fraud as a crass manipulation of the system by lawmakers who have a vested interest in an uneven playing field.
