Gov. Maura Healey on Nov. 10 recommended pardons for Jayaar Gonzalez and Brittany Reichmann and nominated Elizabeth Rodriguez-Ross as an associate justice of the Housing Court, according to a release from her office. She also renominated Jim Kelcourse to the Massachusetts Parole Board. The Governor's Council will consider the pardon recommendations and the nominations.
The release did not give a date for Council action. The governor can grant pardons and commutations for state offenses with the Council's advice and consent, the release said.
Gonzalez was convicted of distribution of a Class B controlled substance in 1997 at age 17 and served 11 months of a one-to-two-year prison sentence. He works as an HVAC technician and is seeking the pardon, the release said, so the conviction no longer limits where he can work, including certain state and federal buildings. Reichmann was convicted in 2014 of two counts of possession with intent to distribute a Class A substance. She completed her sentence in 2018 and has worked in the recovery field. She is seeking a pardon so her record does not limit her employment or her participation in her children's school and sports activities.
Healey has now recommended 29 pardons, according to the release. It said she is the first Massachusetts governor in more than 30 years to recommend pardons in her first elected year.
Rodriguez-Ross is a staff attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders in Boston. The release said her Housing Court experience spans three decades and includes representing property owners and landlords and providing pro bono representation to families facing foreclosure and eviction. She served as Holyoke city solicitor in 2012 and 2013. She helped create the Volunteers for Justice program, now called Lawyer for a Day, in the Western Massachusetts Housing Court.
The Housing Court hears eviction cases, small claims, and civil actions involving personal injury, property damage, breach of contract and discrimination, along with code enforcement actions and appeals of local zoning board decisions that affect residential housing, the release said. It has 15 justices sitting in six divisions and is led by Chief Justice Diana H. Horan. Healey previously nominated Benjamin Adeyinka to the court.
Kelcourse has served on the Parole Board since June 2022. He is an attorney who served four terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the First Essex District, and previously ran a solo practice in Newburyport.
