GOAL and Comm2A Attorney File Appeal in Boston Licensing Delay Case
Following the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s denial of certiorari of Baas-Thomas v. Cox, and their remand of the case, Attorney Jason Guida has filed pleadings with Suffolk Superior Court. This appeal centers around a violation of the 40-day processing period for Licenses to Carry in the City of Boston. In the initial decision denying Mr. Baas-Thomas judicial review of the significant delay of his LTC application, the district court judge ruled that since the 40-day time clock had no significant punitive measure attached to it, that it could simply be disregarded. GOAL and Comm2A took extreme exception to that and ensured that Mr. Baas-Thomas would continue his case with the proper resources and representation with Attorney Jason Guida.
These pleadings are the continuation of that case to make sure the Commonwealth sees the error of their ways and stops treating the Second Amendment like a “second class right” by the Commissioner of the Boston Police Department and other licensing authorities throughout the state. “The Commissioner’s response to this litigation demonstrates a continuing indifference to the 2nd Amendment rights of the people he is sworn to serve," said Attorney Jason Guida in response to the Boston Police Commissioner.
“What bothers me the most is that the City of Boston attributes their backlog to the new online portal going live. We all know this is an unfiltered, unapologetic falsehood. To treat a civil right like this is unconscionable and exactly the sort of unjust infringement that the court system is supposed to make right,” said Chris Martel, President and Executive Director of Comm2A. “I am obviously not holding my breath, but with the way some attitudes are turning in courtrooms, even in the Commonwealth, there may actually be light at the end of this tunnel.”
“Honestly, I would have thought that the court’s initial ruling is outrageous enough to justify heading to the SJC, but these are Second Amendment rights in Massachusetts we’re discussing here,” said Mike Harris, Director of Public Policy for GOAL. “GOAL has been saying for years that the lack of an enforcement mechanism in the 40-day time clock would need to have some sort of reckoning and it looks like that time is here. It is just the indifference and hostility that the state government top-to-bottom treats a constitutional civil right that is so outrageous, the system is designed to hurt it citizens and that needs to stop.”
If all goes well, Attorney Guida expects oral arguments to be sometime this fall, likely September or October. GOAL and Comm2A will continue to keep you informed on this case’s progress.