Would he remain district attorney for the next four years? Probably. But not necessarily. There are two possibilities that might trip him up.
Allegations of sexual assault while in high school have rocked Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo’s campaign for Suffolk County district attorney and the city itself. Most of the high-profile endorsers who backed Arroyo have pulled their support. The Globe ran an editorial urging Arroyo to either pull out of the race or for voters to choose his opponent, DA Kevin Hayden. Wednesday’s City Council meeting was an angry mess, devolving into what might be called a brawl in the hall.
Nevertheless, Arroyo still may be Suffolk County’s next DA. In fact, it’s an easy scenario to imagine.
For one, as every seasoned pol will tell you, endorsements don’t win or lose elections — and un-endorsements probably don’t either. Moreover, the allegations against Arroyo arrived late in the election cycle, surfacing just over a week ago — with the most damning (a direct accusation by one of the women involved) coming on Tuesday. With the primary election only days away, that doesn’t leave voters much time to seriously evaluate their options. Indeed, thanks to early voting, a sizable chunk of them marked their ballots well before the allegations ever surfaced. Early voting, unfortunately, doesn’t allow for a do-over.
All of which means Arroyo may well pull off a victory Tuesday. From there, it’s on to the Nov. 8 final election which — given there is no Republican candidate — would make Arroyo a shoo-in. He would take office Jan. 4.
Granted, there may well be a lot of mishigas over the next few months that could disrupt this. A write-in candidate may surface. Arroyo might choose at some point to end his candidacy or — if elected — resign. New evidence or new allegations could emerge. Advertisement But assuming none of that happens, would Arroyo remain district attorney for the next four years?
Probably. But not necessarily. There are two possibilities that might trip him up.
The first is that Massachusetts law requires a DA be “a member of the bar of the Commonwealth.” Arroyo is a lawyer. But it’s possible that the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers could either disbar or suspend him. The application for the bar asks whether one has been “the subject of any investigation for a felony or misdemeanor.” Arroyo answered in the negative. Police reports appear to say he was told of the investigation; Arroyo maintains he was not.
In theory, if the board determined he had lied, he could lose his license. In practice, though, it’s more likely Arroyo would get suspended. Once the suspension was over, he’d be back on the job.
The second is that Arroyo could be removed. But unlike governors and other constitutional officers, DAs can’t be impeached. Instead removal happens if a complaint is brought to the Supreme Judicial Court and a majority decides “in their judgment . . . it appears that the public good so requires.” This has happened once before, literally 100 years ago in 1922. The Massachusetts attorney general brought a complaint against the Suffolk DA, Joseph Pelletier, charging him with blackmail and extortion. The SJC decision was unanimous, saying that Pelletier had used his office as “instruments of oppression in an attempt to wrest money from the blameless and aged.” (The case was quite controversial, with claims that the charges against the DA were driven by the anti-Catholic bias of the Watch and Ward Society. Pelletier afterward seemed a broken man, dying just two years later at age 51.)
So, yes, it’s possible Arroyo could be removed. But the case against Pelletier had to do with his conduct in office, not with allegations from years before. And there’s one other factor the Board of Bar Overseers or the SJC would each have to take into account: Both are unelected bodies. By disbarring or removing Arroyo, they would be going against the will of the citizens who voted for him. It’s a subversion of democracy that should only happen in the most extraordinary of circumstances.
Best guess? If Arroyo is elected, he’ll join a long parade of scandalous public figures such as Clarence Thomas, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, and Brett Kavanaugh. One lesson each proved is that if politicians tough it out, the controversy eventually dies.
This column appeared in The Boston Globe on September 1, 2022 at https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/01/opinion/what-if-ricardo-arroyo-wins.