The names of 28 people accused of paying for sex at a brothel network have not been released, but that could change after a clerk-magistrate’s ruling Thursday.
At least half of the 28 people accused of paying for sex in a high-end brothel network are pushing back on efforts to make initial hearings in the case public, citing their privacy rights.
The arrests of three people in connection with the brothel organization alleged to have been operating in Massachusetts and Virginia drew public attention, and acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy of Massachusetts previously said that the list of accused clients included politicians, professors, military officers and pharmaceutical executives. At this point, the names of the accused clients have yet to be released, pending the result of show cause hearings. The charge they face is sex for a fee, which is a misdemeanor.
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Show cause hearings, are typically closed to the public, a concept unique to Massachusetts' criminal justice system. It allows people accused of misdemeanors who haven't been arrested to have closed-door hearings with clerk magistrates.
Usually the cases are only made public if the magistrate decides there is enough probable cause to approve the criminal charges. But in this case, the Clerk Magistrate of the Cambridge District Court decided in favor of a request made by media organizations to open them to the public, citing interest in the case. Those hearings were suspended when that decision prompted pushback from the legal teams representing some of the alleged clients, and the question of what information will be made public has now been raised to a higher court - the Supreme Judicial Court of Suffolk County.
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In motions filed Monday, a number of the accused involved argued that their individual right to privacy should trump any public interest in the cases.
"...the Clerk-Magistrate’s extraordinary decision violates the rules governing show cause hearings, violates the notice recipients’ right to basic procedural due process, and violates basic notions of fairness. It will turn ordinarily confidential show cause hearings into public 'walks of shame' and humiliation before there is even a probable cause determination made as to each individual," one motion reads in part.
In one motion, lawyers for 13 of the accused argue that their clients were not even given notice and that they were not considered as individuals before the decision to make the hearings public was announced. They also point out that none of the 13 are “'seeking or holding political office or in other key government positions'” or in any other
position as a public figure,'" contrary to descriptions given out by prosecutors that the alleged clients involved are "Elected officials, government contractors with security clearance, professors and military officers."
A final decision has yet to be made.
