Op-Eds
Carol Erskine
May 25, 2026
The Justice File is a platform for truth, accountability, and reform—focused on how the law affects vulnerable children. Founded by former Massachusetts Juvenile Court Judge Carol Erskine, a Top Ten Massachusetts lawyer and author of A Cruel Injustice, the site features analysis, trial commentary, and investigative reporting on child welfare, constitutional rights, and domestic violence. Drawing on 21 years on the bench, Judge Erskine exposes systemic failures and calls for justice through articles, media appearances, and legal commentary.
Sweet Harmony Montgomery should still be alive. Instead, her tragic death has left her half-brother Jamison—now adopted by two loving dads—grieving the sister he adored. Unaware of the public outrage surrounding her case, Jamison simply says, “I wish she wouldn’t have died.” When a Massachusetts court gave custody of Harmony to her violent father in New Hampshire, her fate was sealed. Even in death, officials and lawyers have worked to silence her story to protect their own failures.
I am not sure how my original post with over 250, 00 views was deleted but I am reposting it here.
In all my years as a lawyer and a judge, this was one of the most egregious lines of questioning I have ever heard in a courtroom. In the Clancy trial, the prosecutor asked Susan
In all my years as a lawyer and a judge, this was one of the most egregious lines of questioning I have ever heard in a courtroom. In the Clancy trial, the prosecutor asked Susan Clancy if she was active in the Catholic Church and then asked, "So you're aware that murder is
If any good can come from the tragedy of the Lindsay Clancy case, perhaps it will be that the failures of the Massachusetts mental health system are finally exposed.
This is the courtroom where I heard countless cases, many involving mental health issues. I witnessed firsthand a
It's not surprising, although frightening, that the crisis hotline clinician told Lindsay Clancy she did not meet the criteria for hospitalization because she had no "suicide plan." We have heard this over and over and over again in this trial. Here is what not one clinician has
A lot is being made of the testimony that Lindsay Clancy did not have a specific suicide “plan.� That is NOT the Massachusetts legal standard. It’s not in the statute or the DMH regulations. G.L. c. 123, §1 does not require a formulated suicide plan. Neither the statute nor the
