Lawyer’s Racist Posts Test Conflict of Interest Standards (1)

Massachusetts’ highest court is being asked to grapple this week with a question that some say could have impact far beyond a single case: Should a court-appointed lawyer’s racist, Islamophobic Facebook posts disqualify him from representing a Black, Muslim client?

The issue is at the heart of an appeal from a defendant who said he deserves a new trial after discovering that his public defender made more than 20 bigoted social media posts while representing him.

A lower court judge ruled that the appellant, Anthony Dew, hadn’t proven how his former defender’s racism amounted to ineffective representation.

But, in a ...