State Integrity Investigation

A judge has declared a mistrial in former Massachusetts treasurer Tim Cahill's corruption case after jurors failed to reach a verdict during seven days of deliberations.

Cahill was accused of scheming to run $1.5 million in taxpayer-funded ads for the state lottery as a means of promoting his sinking 2010 campaign for governor.

Cahill testified that he approved the advertising blitz because he wanted to defend the lottery after the Republican Governors Association ran a series of negative ads attacking him and his management of the lottery.

Jurors in the corruption trial of former Massachusetts Treasurer Tim Cahill are set to start their seventh day of deliberations today.

An aide to former treasurer Tim Cahill has been found not guilty of corruption charges but jurors are deadlocked on charges against Cahill himself and the judge has asked them to keep deliberating.

Cahill and former campaign manager Scott Campbell were charged with violating state ethics laws by scheming to use $1.5 million in state lottery advertisements to boost Cahill's 2010 independent campaign for governor.

Former Massachusetts Treasurer Tim Cahill is expected to take the witness stand for a second day as prosecutors question him about taxpayer-funded lottery ads they say he ran to promote his faltering 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

Cahill spent more than two hours on the witness stand Thursday, answering questions from his lawyer. He is expected to be cross-examined by prosecutors today.

Nearly 200 people have been released from prison and their cases put on hold as a result of a Massachusetts state drug testing lab scandal.

Gov. Deval Patrick says officials have been unable to determine who in his administration hired former highway safety director Sheila Burgess because the original paperwork cannot be located.Burgess resigned last week after a report that her personal driving record included multiple accidents and traffic violations.

A nearly 200-year-old Massachusetts statute outlining the penalties for corporate manslaughter is being thrust into the spotlight as lawmakers wrestle with the fallout from a deadly meningitis outbreak.

The investigation into the Framingham-based New England Compounding Center is still ongoing, and no charges have been brought.

But Attorney General Martha Coakley says the case illustrates the need to change the law, which hasn't been updated since it was signed in 1819.

That law set a top penalty for corporate manslaughter at $1,000.

Former Massachusetts Treasurer Tim Cahill is going on trial on corruption charges.

Cahill is accused of airing taxpayer-funded ads for the state lottery as a means of promoting his 2010 independent campaign for governor.

As treasurer, Cahill oversaw the state lottery. He is charged with violating state ethics laws and procurement fraud.

Cahill has said he did nothing wrong and that the ads were designed to promote the lottery, not his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign.

Opening statements are set for today in Suffolk Superior Court.

What the Candidates Think  

Massachusetts Democrats: In their party platform, Massachusetts Democrats state their support for spending state revenues to support local wellbeing, saying, "responsible investments today will provide positive outcomes in our communities for years to come." 

BOSTON — A fight is being waged on Beacon Hill over a newspaper’s request to keep tabs on the comings and goings of lawmakers — and the controversy has provoked additional press criticism of Gov. Deval Patrick.

BOSTON — On Monday, Attorney General Martha Coakley called for an amendment to the state's open meeting law. The need for change comes as no surprise to those who have followed the State Integrity Investigation, a nationwide look at corruption risk.

Massachusetts flunked the "public access to information" category on the SII report card. Investigators found that while citizens have a legally enshrined right to government information and records, in practice those rights are hard to access. The state earned a C overall, placing it 11th in the nation for corruption risk.

BOSTON — The parade of Massachusetts politicians charged with corruption continues. On April 4, former state Treasurer Tim Cahill was arraigned on charges that he spent $1.6 million in public funds to bolster his failed 2010 candidacy for governor. Cahill said he’s not guilty and that legal precedent is on his side — but that claim may be debatable.

BOSTON — Beacon Hill is buzzing over the indictment of former state Treasurer Tim Cahill. Cahill faces jail time for allegedly misusing public funds to further his 2010 campaign for governor. It’s the latest in a long line of prosecutions of Massachusetts politicians — and for Cahill’s peers, it raises a troubling question: Has behavior that’s been commonplace for years suddenly become criminal?
 
Cahill defends himself
 

BOSTON — The indictment of former treasurer Tim Cahill on corruption charges was just another reminder of the long history of political misdeeds in Massachusetts. On March 19, WGBH News released the State Integrity Index, a report card compiled through a nationwide investigation by the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity and Public Radio International. That report gave Mass. a C on corruption risk. We asked you to grade Massachusetts on how corrupt it actually is. 

So ... what do you think?

BOSTON — Former Massachusetts state treasurer Timothy Cahill was indicted Monday on public corruption and fraud charges stemming from his 2010 campaign for governor.
 
Attorney General Martha Coakley said Cahill used publicly funded lottery ads to advance his candidacy.
 
“We allege that Treasurer Cahill gained an unwarranted and unlawful privilege by his ability to launch a television ad campaign, ostensibly on behalf of the Massachusetts state lottery, but one that was actually carefully coordinated primarily to promote his own campaign for governor,” she said.

BOSTON — A federal grand jury indicted three former Massachusetts probation officials on Friday. They are accused of favoring politically connected candidates for probation jobs over those who were more qualified.

Former Probation Commissioner John O’Brien and two top deputies — William Burke and Elizabeth Tavarez — were charged with racketeering and mail fraud.

BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is responding to a nationwide report on corruption that looked at all branches of state government, and examined our laws and their effectiveness. The result: the State Integrity Index, measuring not actual corruption…but the risk of corruption. Massachusetts received a C grade, good for 10th best in the nation. See the report card.
 

Massachusetts has an embarrassing history of government corruption, but you might be surprised to learn how we stack up against the other 49 states. On today’s show, we dig into the results of a five-month, nationwide investigation that looked at everything from public access to information, transparency, lobbying, and the strength of ethics rules.