What are the political implications of Karen Reed’s acquittal? Discussed at OTR roundtable

What are the political implications of Karen Reed’s acquittal? Discussed at OTR roundtable

Last updated: July 7, 2024 11:29 AM EST

This is the weekend edition of the Sunday Roundtable. This morning we are joined by Adrian Walker, columnist and deputy editor at the Boston Globe, and Rob Gray, Republican political analyst. Thank you both for joining us. Happy Fourth of July, both of you. Congratulations. Well. You heard what Marty Meehan said about what happened at Amherst College in Massachusetts last spring. Adrian, what is your biggest takeaway? What do you think? It’s still going on. When the students come back, everything will start up again. Do you think it will start up again in the fall? Of course. What do you think, Rob? I think Adrian is right. The reason is that there are a lot of professional agitators who are using students to get out. I don’t doubt that students feel that way, but the armed encampments and other activities that are spreading across college campuses are often professionally motivated by anti-Israel forces. Well, as we know, it’s not just UMASS. UMAS is going to be in a tough spot in the fall, too. Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Emerson, North Easton, all of these universities have had to deal with the encampment problem. Are we going to be back to square one when students come back? I mean, are we going to see college presidents calling the police again? I think we might. And I don’t think it’s just a problem of professional agitators. I think there’s a lot of passion about this issue among young people in college. And do you think that passion has waned? No, I don’t think it has waned. The only thing that ended this was the fact that graduation was over for the summer and they all scattered. But they all come back and the passion comes back. And the passion is there. But I just think that the tactics are somewhat inspired by the experts. But I think smart college presidents, no, street smart college presidents, have learned that. Don’t let it start. Force the first encampment. Shoot it down. Do what you have to do. Suspend somebody, expel somebody. If you let it erupt again, it’s just going to escalate and get out of control again. Right. The longer it goes on, the worse it gets. Now, after a chaotic trial, there’s nothing particularly surprising about it. The jury was unable to reach a verdict in the Karen Reed case. DA Michael Morrissey has said he’s going to try the case again. The State Police’s conduct during the investigation has been a huge disgrace. Officer Michael Proctor has been fired. Do you think Morrissey will survive? What do you think, Rob? I think he’ll retire. And I expect there will be a retirement announcement. Late Friday afternoon. Anytime next year, a year from now, somewhere around that time. He’ll probably retire in about two years. Do you think he should retire? Absolutely. Because this is a disgrace to the DA’s office, to the State Police, and to local law enforcement as a whole. He wouldn’t be able to stand it. What do you think, Adrian? I agree with all of that. He’s going to be 70 in a month. You know, he’s had a great, distinguished career. And I think it’s time to end that career. Now, let’s talk about the state police. Governor Haley took a while to appoint a new chief of the state police. What’s the delay? I don’t know what’s the delay, but let me tell you as a former attorney general, she has more direct access to the state police than a governor normally has. And she’s probably in a good position to find new leadership. Okay. What do you think? Well, I think it’s been a revolving door of bad leadership. So I think she’s wise to be careful. She’s got to get this right. The string of scandals didn’t happen on her watch, most of them didn’t happen on her watch, but she’s got to get this right. Ken, with one new leader, there are calls for bringing in someone from outside Massachusetts on this. Do you think with one new leader, you can really change the culture? Rob, what do you think? Hmm, right now, no. Adrienne, what do you think? It’s going to be a tough job. It’s a tough job for one person to change. Okay? It’s July now, and Mayor Wu has yet to officially announce her candidacy for reelection. Adrienne laughs. There’s more than a year until the election, isn’t this strategy a little too naive? No, there’s no reason for her to announce it now. And you don’t want to announce it until you really have to, because then everything will be seen through the prism of your candidacy. So I think people are going to hold off for a while. I think she’ll probably announce it in late fall. What do you think? If I were to give her advice, I would do exactly the same as she did. Have a nice, calm summer. Yeah. I mean, be mayor. Don’t be a candidate. I think the sooner you become a candidate, the sooner you can invite other candidates into the race. So what about the other candidates? Do you think Josh Kraft will run? Adrienne, I wouldn’t be surprised if Josh Kraft runs. And I think there are definitely other candidates that you’re thinking about. Ed Flynn is definitely thinking about it, too. And I think he’ll run. Okay. Rob, what do you think? That’s interesting. Josh Kraft, if you get in this race, I think you’d better be careful. Woo Machine, your political career may be over before it even begins. They’re going to hound him. And he, as a freshman candidate, won’t know how to handle it. Ed Flynn is probably a little more headstrong because he’s been in political races before and he comes from a family where his father was mayor. Now, let’s talk about the Supreme Court. Last week’s presidential immunity decision was the most vivid example of the split between conservatives and liberals on the Supreme Court. That doesn’t necessarily bode well for a court that’s supposed to be above politics. Will there be a real move now to get rid of lifetime appointments? Rob, I don’t think so. So, there’s a little problem. It’s the Constitution. Let’s talk about the hypocrisy of both parties. When Democrats control Washington, they try to change the Supreme Court to get the decisions they want, whether that’s Edward Markey increasing the number of Supreme Court justices or whatever. Same with Republicans. They’re both hypocrites. When Congress flips, they say, “Oh, that’s terrible. It’s going to be terrible.” And it’s an attack on the Constitution. And when they get power, they go along with it if they think it benefits them. I strongly disagree. I think the Supreme Court has done something that traditional courts have not done, which is to be more partisan than any court ever has been. What about the Supreme Court in Watergate? They absolutely refused to support Nixon, even though he appointed a bunch of justices. That’s the exact opposite of what this court has done. What about an ethics code? Do we need an ethics code? Obviously, we need an ethics code. I mean, Clarence Thomas flies around the world in a Harlan Crow jet. Yeah, they need a code. Yeah, I agree with you on that point. So, without question, the court’s ethics laws are way behind the Supreme Court in terms of accepting gifts and other things from outside influencers. Okay. They also need a policy to recuse themselves from issues that they’ve been involved in. More on that in the roundtable. In a moment.