If there were any justice in Massachusetts, Judge Shelley Joseph would be in prison this morning, serving a 20-year sentence for various atrocious federal crimes. But as a left-wing Democrat from Brookline and former member of the Democrat State Committee, all her crimes have been swept under the rug. She continues to reside in her multi-million-dollar mansion in posh, lily-white South Natick.
In other words — do you know who she is?
As a member of multiple protected classes, instead of working in the prison laundry, Judge Joseph is laughing all the way to the bank with her $207,855-a-year salary for a part-time position no more than 35 weeks a year. She even recently enjoyed a three-year paid vacation!
Riddle me this: If you were indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting obstruction of both justice and a federal proceeding, would your employer continue to pay you unquestioningly? Would your boss also cover your legal expenses of at least $127,000?
It’s great to be a Democrat from Brookline and the Democrat State Committee, isn’t it?
While sitting on the bench in Newton in 2018, Judge Joseph allowed a man named Jose Medina-Perez to escape from an ICE agent. The ICE agent was waiting in the lobby to detain him so he could be deported back to the Dominican Republic. Medina-Perez had already been deported twice. He didn’t speak a word of English, had two outstanding drug charges pending in Massachusetts, and had earlier fled from a DUI arrest in Pennsylvania.
In short, he was a “good Democrat.”
And Shelley Joseph let the man slip out the back door to continue his life of crime.
This makes Shelley Joseph today’s poster child for the corrupt double standards in the Massachusetts legal system. They frame us, even when innocent, but they get away with everything themselves, up to and including murder. Does the name Farwell ring a bell?
In the halls of justice, the only justice is found in the halls.
If you look up the word “broom” in the dictionary, you’d see a mug shot of Shelley Joseph.
By now, her sordid life of crime is somewhat familiar—or should be. She was indicted in 2019, when Americans controlled the federal government. But as soon as Joe Biden took office, the federal charges against her vanished, thanks to the very ethical new U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins’ professional courtesy— and all that.
As part of her sweetheart deal, Joseph had to agree to a state investigation—wink wink, nudge nudge.
Now, we have the results of a 117-page probe conducted by an outsider from New York named Denis McInerney. His investigation was so lackluster he couldn’t even spell the name of one of her former bosses correctly (It’s Sen. Pacheco, not “Pancheco.”).
If Trump hadn’t been elected in 2024, there wouldn’t have even been this pathetic “investigation.” As long as Democrats run the DOJ, they never go after one of their own like Shelley Joseph. But once Trump was back in charge, suddenly the state decided it had to “do something.”
No surprise that after this very on-the-level investigation, McInerney found his card-carrying, fellow-traveling comrade to be “the most beautiful girl in the world.” He wrote:
> “She is a thoughtful, diligent, and conscientious judge undeserving of the harsh public criticism she has received. (She) inadvertently created the appearance of impropriety and bias.”
Her crime? Improperly, and in violation of every rule in the book, turning off the tape recorder in her courtroom. Then she and the man’s crooked attorney—a hack named Jellinek—schemed to allow the man to escape from ICE.
The assistant district attorney described their whispered plotting, which she overheard, as “weird or sketchy.” She said their criminal conspiracy to release the man made her “uncomfortable.”
Joseph asked Jellinek, “What could we do to help this nice young Dominican with the ICE detainer?”
Once the escape plan was hatched, they turned the tape recorder back on after 52 seconds of silence. Soon thereafter, the man fled out the back door of the courthouse.
Here’s a selection of McInerney’s excuses for Judge Joseph’s obstruction of justice:
– “She was being a conscientious judge who was trying to get things right.”
– “Could have created the impression… the timing and manner in which she made this observation could be misunderstood to suggest that she was overly concerned about the ICE officer’s presence.”
– “Could have been interpreted as a greater-than-appropriate concern about ICE potentially taking custody (of the illegal alien career criminal).”
– “Judge Joseph was a new, inexperienced judge, making it likely she was less sensitive to appearance issues than more tenured judges.”
You mean, she didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to obstruct justice?
“Second, she has learned from her mistake of going off the record, and has not done so since.”
“She has expressed remorse and, following her indictment in April 2019, Judge Joseph was suspended from judicial duties and unable to work for over three years.”
With pay.
He (McInerney) forgot to mention that. It was basically a paid vacation for a slobberingly loyal apparatchik of the Democrat party.
Among Massachusetts Democrats, enabling illegal-alien crime—even drug trafficking—is a resume enhancer.
Not that the judge didn’t already have all her corrupt credentials in order. She’d given cash to Martha Coakley and Deval Patrick, both of whom she hoped might appoint her to the bench someday. She also took care of Middlesex DA Gerry Leone, another dim-bulb Democrat hack now pocketing a state pension of $200,202 a year.
In the end, it was RINO disgrace Charlie Baker who handed Shelley the sinecure she’d been scheming to get for so long — yet another black mark on his dismal record.
Now, I think she’s in West Roxbury. That’s where they sometimes send judges who have, shall we say, a checkered past.
I’ll leave it at that.
But hey, exile to West Roxbury beats doing a long stretch in prison, which is what she should be doing for the next 5-10 years.
Compare Shelley Joseph’s kid-gloves treatment with how her fellow “corrupt cops” have railroaded any number of other defendants or victims — starting with Karen Read, Sandra Birchmore, Fred Weichel, Willie Bennett, Frances Choy, Juston Root, Leonardo Johnson, Kyle Culotta, and others.
If only any of these victims of Massachusetts “justice” had been members of the Democrat State Committee from Brookline.
Bottom line: If I ever get jammed up, I won’t ask for special treatment. I just want to be treated like Judge Shelley Joseph.
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Order Howie’s new book on all these matters, *Mass Corruption: Vol. 1, The Cops*, at howiecarrshow.com/store.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/11/08/howie-carr-if-i-get-jammed-up-treat-me-like-a-democrat-state-committee-member/
