'The Whitey Bulger Case: Balancing The Rights Of Victims And The Accused' Published In Criminal Law Bulletin

Allison Burroughs, Dahlia Rin and Benjamin Mack, members of the firm's Government Investigations and White Collar Defense practice group, published "The Whitey Bulger Case: Balancing the Rights of Victims and the Accused" in the April/May 2012 issue of Criminal Law Bulletin, a publication of Minnesota State University. The authors discuss the rights of crime victims under federal law in the aftermath of the Whitey Bulger arrest and the indictment of his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig, on one count of conspiracy to harbor a fugitive.

Bulger's alleged crime victims (or the family members of the deceased victims) have the right to speak in court at any of his release, plea, sentencing or parole proceedings. As Bulger elected not to challenge his pre-trial detention, there was not an opportunity for the alleged victims or their families to speak in court. The alleged victims, anxious for an opportunity to have their voices heard, sought to speak at Greig's detention hearing and were afforded that right by the magistrate judge.

The article examines whether the alleged victims of Bulger's charged crimes should have been allowed to speak at Greig's detention hearing and, if so, whether the subject matter of their testimony should have been limited to the issues before the court –...