State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s so far unsuccessful attempt to force a voter-approved audit of the Legislature got a boost Thursday when the state’s highest court agreed to take up DiZoglio’s quest to retain her own lawyer.
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance applauded, what it called, the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision to grant a full bench review of DiZoglio’s legal petition to obtain independent legal representation.
“This is a clear and meaningful step forward. Speaker Ron Mariano, Senate President Karen Spilka, and Attorney General Andrea Campbell have thrown up as many roadblocks as possible in an attempt to derail the will of the voters. By taking up this case, the full bench of the SJC is beginning the process of determining if the auditor can have counsel after the attorney general publicly made the decision to represent the speaker and senate president,” said Paul Diego Craney, executive director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
DiZoglio confirmed for WHAV the court’s decision.
Earlier this month, DiZoglio’s request to go around Campbell was rejected by Supreme Judicial Court Judge Dalila Argaez Wendlandt wrote in a two-page ruling.
“It’s incredibly disappointing that Judge Wendlandt believes access to justice is not for all—and is just for the AG,” DiZoglio told State House News Service at the time.
In an earlier interview with WHAV, DiZoglio also pointed to unusual resistance now from judges about their own courts’ regular administrative audits that hinted at the court’s own bias.
“We had a couple of justices, namely Justice Heidi Brieger and Justice Amy Blake of the appeals court and the trial court, just tell our office that, ‘You know what, the attorney general doesn’t think we have to be audited any more,’ and that essentially, and I am paraphrasing here, they think that’s great news,” DiZoglio said.
According to state law, “A party aggrieved by a final judgment of a single justice of the supreme judicial court may appeal therefrom to the full court of the supreme judicial court.”
A 2024 law approved by 72% of Massachusetts voters authorizes the state auditor to audit the “accounts, programs, activities and functions” of the House and Senate.
“The decision by the single justice to bring this case before the full court is an excellent development for the auditor and the 72% of voters who supported a legislative audit. This is such a rare and unique legal case that the wisdom of the full court is necessary. We hope the court also considers reviewing the underlying constitutional issues at the core of the audit dispute while it has this case before it,” said Craney said in a press release.