An attorney with decades of experience working in Springfield District Court is now officially it's clerk magistrate - after already overseeing a great deal of what goes on in one of the state's busiest courts.
The Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse in downtown Springfield is usually pretty empty on Sundays, but over the weekend, at least one courtroom was occupied.
A small group of friends, family and colleagues were on-hand as Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll swore-in Attorney John Stocks as the new Clerk Magistrate for Springfield District Court.
It's a role Stocks is already familiar with - he's been the court's acting clerk magistrate since 2023, after the previous clerk magistrate, John S. Gay, retired.
With a resume that includes time as both First Assistant Clerk Magistrate and Assistant Clerk Magistrate at the district court, he tells WAMC his latest role isn’t one he takes lightly.
“I've been going through the [application] process since last June - you go through all the different vetting levels, so it's a relief,” he said when asked how it felt to drop the word “acting” from his title. “I just want to get to work and serve the citizens of the Springfield jurisdiction.”
The role's a wide-ranging one – among Stocks’s responsibilities is managing the Clerk's office, holding show cause hearings and reviewing complaint and search warrant applications as well as presiding over small claims trials.
Stocks has worked within the system since 1993, according to the Office of Governor Maura Healey, which formally announced Stocks’s nomination last month. He cleared the Governor's Council in early-April.
“It's great to be able to recognize talent in public service and to be able to appoint Mr. Stocks, who's had a long career here, into this position is a real source of pride for us and so, it was grateful to be here with his family to be able to swear him in officially,” Driscoll told WAMC.
Stocks, a Syracuse University and Western New England University School of Law grad, says, with Boston’s municipal court system split into multiple divisions, Springfield District Court is technically one of the busiest in the state, dueling with Worcester for most activity.
Stocks says the work is rewarding – giving people access to justice while working with a small army of coworkers, court officers, staff and judges. It’s not without its challenges, either.
“… it's an urban court: a lot of people with a lot of issues here, as opposed to a court out in a rural area, like North Adams,” he said. “A lot of domestic violence, a lot of mental health issues, a lot of firearms - it's a challenging place to work, it's a challenging place to be a judge, to be an attorney, to be a district attorney, probation officer – all of that. It's busy, and the work is really challenging.”
For judges at least, those challenges include on and off criticism from the mayor.
For years, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has called out local judges and judicial system for what he considers a “revolving door” of apparent repeat-offenders – individuals facing gun, drug, and violent crime-related charges, who end up committing similar offenses, even while released under various conditions.
The criticism surfaced again last month, after eight suspects were arrested on March 12 following a house search on Pasadena Street.
Multiple firearms and what was believed to be crack cocaine was seized. Among the arrested was a 21-year-old who had two open firearms-related cases at the time and had been outfitted with an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet at one point, which police said he removed.
In response to the arrests and hearing that the suspect has racked up 43 “adult arraignments” over the years, Sarno asked in a statement “what it will take for our court system to take action and protect our community?”
Stocks tells WAMC he knows the mayor has a job to do in advocating for the safety of residents, but adds that judges are beholden to the law - and that the kind of change being called for starts on Beacon Hill.
“… you’re innocent until proven guilty and bail isn’t to be used as a punishment, so the judges have to abide by the SJC and the Branigan case and the bail statute … and I think some of the judges are frustrated: if you ask them … they can’t speak to the press, they have to stay neutral and out of it, so they’re kind of an easy target because they can’t respond and fight back, for lack of a better word,” Stocks said. “But if you ask them, they would say they’re probably frustrated with it as well, because there are some people that are really a danger, and [judges] use the dangerousness statute to hold those people, but… Mayor Sarno really needs to target the legislature and have the bail statute reformed, if that’s what he really thinks needs to be done.”
In his statement last month, Sarno also highlighted bail reform legislation efforts involving 12th Hampden State Representative Angelo Puppolo, Jr. – efforts that have stalled out in years past.
