Senator Patricia Jehlen was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 2005. She represents Medford, Somerville, and parts of Winchester and Cambridge.Senator Jehlen serves as Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs, and as Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy. Senator Jehlen also serves on the Committees on Ways and Means, Revenue, and Community Development and Small Businesses.
Criminal justice reform has long been a top priority of mine. I will continue to fight to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences, reform solitary confinement, increase programing and drug treatment to prepare individuals for reentry, and end the practice of locking up individuals awaiting trial just because they can’t afford a minimal cash bail. While we still have a long way to go before our criminal justice system is truly just, we have been making progress. So far this year the Senate has passed two of my bills, one that...