Nev Moore poured ice-water on Jeffrey Locke's judgeship as she told of the terrible abuse to children during his reign at DSS.

DSS Chief Challenged at Governor’s Council

Nev Moore, executive director of Justice for Families, poured ice-water on the feel-good atmosphere last month when she told the Governor’s Council that DSS Commissioner Jeffrey A. Locke was not responsive to the concerns of families that were torn apart by his agency.

Moore held the room spellbound as she calmly made her case in opposition to Locke’s  nomination as a judge in the Superior Court. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair during her presentation.

“I wouldn’t trust him to judge a pie contest,” said Moore.

Moore is a respected activist who works with parents and children who undergo the trauma of damage from the agency which is supposed to be helping them. Her revelation a few weeks ago, about state troopers who accompanied DSS workers to seize a newborn baby from a mother in the hospital, received national outrage, including the Wall Street Journal.

She suggested that the Governor’s Council speak with other legislators, especially with the members of the Committee on Human Services and Elderly Affairs, who she said have expressed their surprise and concern that Locke does not address allegations and serious concerns about DSS that are raised in committee meetings.

She said that legislators tell her that ever since Locke took over DSS, the Commissioner’s office became “locked up tight and incommunicado,” and operates under a “siege mentality.”

“It’s absolutely unforgivable because it’s a taxpayer funded agency and he needs to remember who is writing his paycheck,” said Moore.

“We’re not talking about an organization that builds roads and bridges as it should, we’re talking about an organization that can destroy a family for life,” said Moore.

Moore told the Governor’s Council that Locke displayed a consistent pattern of dishonest and negative behavior in several areas:

Deliberately and knowingly lying to the public in quotes made to the media.

Refusing to even acknowledge communications and concerns from anxious legislators, lawyers or parents.

Ignorance of laws and regulations pertaining to DSS.

Evasion of responsibility for the organization beneath him.

Allowing DSS field workers and supervisors to misrepresent themselves as licensed social workers when they are not.

Refusal to work with the legislature or respond to legislators’ calls and communications.

Deliberate violations of federal regulations by filing false documents in order to collect federal funding and not establishing citizen-review panels.

Violation of federal restraint and drugging regulations.

The hearing room was packed with media expecting fireworks over Edmund Burke, who charged that Locke sent him to jail in 1998 for the murder of a 75-year-old woman by misleading a judge about forensic evidence that was actually helpful to Burke.

Later in the hearing, Councilor Carole A. Fiola told Locke that her antennae were raised by the number of letters she has received in opposition to his nomination. She said the letters specifically mention his temperament and demeanor.

During a break, MassNews attempted to ask Jeffrey Locke some questions. When he heard the name Massachusetts News, he stiffened and said “No!” When pursued, he said “I’m not saying anything to the media.”

Governor Jane Swift nominated Locke on July 31 to the position of Associate Justice of the Superior Court.

Locke waxed eloquent about public service and praised his own work at DSS by saying he brought an outsider’s perspective and “restored the morale of the department.” He said he instilled a “sense of teamwork and family,” and brought “a quality assurance approach,” to the agency.

Locke said he wanted to leave the agency a little better than he found it.

Locke disclosed that there are currently 13 lawsuits against him pertaining to DSS. He downplayed that fact by saying it is not unusual for the head of an agency to be named in a lawsuit.

In a revealing statement to those who grapple with the real-life horror of having DSS snatch their children based on slim or fraudulent pretexts, Locke said he “defends the staff,” of social workers, because, “You never lay your troops out on the firing line. That leaves the staff to feel free to go do casework.”

A throng of supporters, including the chief justices of the Superior Court and Juvenile Court, heaped accolades on him at the judicial nomination hearing on Beacon Hill.

The issue about Edmund Burke was muted at the hearing after Burke’s two lawyers, Jeff Denner and Robert Sinsheimer came out in support of Locke’s nomination. Sinsheimer, who has known Locke since 1983, went so far as to say the Burke matter is likely to make Locke a better judge because he will be more sensitive to the rights of accused persons.

Councilors expressed their concern that Burke spent time in jail even though forensic evidence did not justify it.