Scott Harshbarger
| Scott Harshbarger | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Attorney General of Massachusetts | |
|
In office January 3, 1991 – January 7, 1999 |
|
| Governor |
Bill Weld Paul Cellucci |
| Preceded by | Jim Shannon |
| Succeeded by | Tom Reilly |
| District Attorney of Middlesex County | |
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In office 1983–1991 |
|
| Preceded by | John Droney |
| Succeeded by | Tom Reilly |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Luther Scott Harshbarger December 1, 1941 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Political party |
Democratic (–2016) United Independent Party (2016) |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
Luther Scott Harshbarger (born December 1, 1941) is a lawyer politician from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts who is a member of the United Independent Party and was formerly a member of the Democratic Party. He is currently Senior Counsel in the Boston law firm of Casner & Edwards, LLP. Harshbarger is married to Judith Stephenson. They have five children.
Harshbarger was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He attended Harvard College, where he was a halfback on the varsity football team, and Harvard Law School. After law school, Harshbarger worked as a public defender and civil rights attorney. He was first elected as District Attorney (DA) of Middlesex County, Massachusetts in 1982, defeating incumbent DA John Droney in the Democratic primary. He was re-elected in 1986.
Harshbarger served as District Attorney for 8 years. Amongst the cases his office handled he obtained the conviction of Gerald Amirault and other employees of the Fells Acres Day Care Center in Malden, Massachusetts. Though subsequently reversed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Council (citing the need for "finality") the convictions of Violet and Cheryl Amirault were overturned in 1995, in Massachusetts Superior Court. Following the Judicial Council's reinstatement of the verdict, another Superior Court Judge, Isaac Borenstein, granted two separate motions for new trials to the accused. Borenstein held that the interrogations of children by Harshbarger's office and its designated experts, were so tainted by "grave errors" in the investigation process that they could not be used in any new trial. However, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court once again ruled to send the women back to prison. The case has been criticized as a miscarriage of justice in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The Nation.
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