May 3, 2021
DIG Boston
By Jean Trounstine
A cry for help from inmates caught in a coronavirus outbreak in Bridgewater
March 27, 2020
Boston Globe
By Andrea Estes and Vernal Coleman
Patients call Plymouth addiction center a mere jail
December 2, 2017 The Boston Globe By Maria Cramer and Felice J. Freyer In recent years, as the opioid crisis has deepened, the number of people who have turned to the court system for help has skyrocketed. Under a state law known as Section 35, a judge may commit into treatment anyone with an addiction […]
A Turnaround: At last, decency at Bridgewater
September 14, 2017 The Boston Globe By Yvonne Abraham Just like that. For decades, Bridgewater State Hospital was a hellhole, the heinous treatment of mentally ill inmates there the subject of countless exposes and lawsuits. Yet, though this place was the moral shame of Massachusetts, nothing ever changed. Until, quite suddenly, it did. Who knew this could […]
Judge troubled by allegations from civilly committed addicts
July 14, 2017 The Boston Globe By Maria Cramer A Suffolk Superior Court judge Friday said he was troubled that state officials had placed men civilly committed for drug treatment in a facility for sex offenders and called on the officials to find a quick alternative. “I don’t know why someone who is committed for the […]
Worse than jail: Addicts civilly committed say DOC abused them and failed to treat them
July 14, 2017 The Boston Globe By Maria Cramer Iraida Hernandez was desperate to find help for her son, a developmentally disabled 26-year-old long addicted to heroin. Regular treatment centers weren’t enough — he walked out almost as soon as he walked in. Finally, Hernandez told him she wanted him to enter a program that would […]
Admin briefs lawmakers on Bridgewater State Hospital plan
By Andy Metzger WWLP.com September 14, 2016 STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, SEPT. 13, 2016….Bridgewater State Hospital will move from a hybrid correctional facility and mental health treatment center to take on a more pure clinical focus under a new Baker administration plan that was hailed by prisoner advocates who sought further reforms. Secretary of Public Safety […]