Mattapoisett resident Ed Doherty’s two life-long passions spawned his two books, “Seven Miles After Sundown,” his tome on surfcasting for striped bass along the Cape Cod Canal (published in 2018), and his recent release, “Laughs, Lies & American Justice,” which recounts his 37 years as a district court clerk-magistrate.
In a similar way, the Attleboro native credits both life passions to his summers in Mattapoisett as a boy. He and his family spent those summers with his grandfather Jack Flynn, a detective with the Taunton Police Department who had a home on Prospect Road.
“I formed an opinion from him to do something in the criminal-justice system,” Doherty said. “The stories he told about his work made me want to do something in that line of work.”
And his grandfather would take him to the Cape Cod Canal, Ned’s Point and Strawberry Pond, where granddad did not fish but where young Ed Doherty saw the type of fishing that he wanted to do himself. Then came the lesson he learned from one of his first jobs when he was in high school, as a local ice cream scooper. He said he learned he never wanted to be a short-order cook after having to fill in as one briefly that summer.
After graduating with a degree in English from the University of South Florida in Tampa, at age 25, he became the youngest person in Massachusetts ever to hold an assistant clerk-magistrate position (Attleboro District Court.) Eighteen years later, Governor Paul Cellucci promoted him to the lifetime position of clerk-magistrate at Wrentham District Court.
Mattapoisett drew him back when he and his wife Joanne bought a condo at the Fairhaven/Mattapoisett line, retiring in 2016 to become full-time residents. Nowadays, Doherty rises between 2:00 am and 3:00 am, goes fishing until 8:00 or 9:00 am, naps, then spends time with his five grandchildren, sometimes taking one of them fishing.
A career in the court system inspired him to write a second book, “Laughs, Lies & American Justice,” that mixes humorous moments amidst an often, sad setting.
“Though some stories were not so funny,” he said. “I saw and handled so many, sometimes gruesome, domestic-violence cases over the years that I will donate some of my proceeds from this book to ‘Jane Doe, Inc.’” (Jane Doe, Inc., is the Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.)
One night he set a $5,000 bail for a man charged with domestic violence; telephoned at home, his job sent him to the police station to set arrestees’ bail. That night, the victim asked, “What time do I have to raise the bail?” Some victims are challenged to suddenly cut ties with their assailant, he explained, especially for financial reasons.
“I could’ve reduced the bail to zero to help her out,” he said. “But I didn’t. It was always a big conflict for me if a bail reduction would really help the victim. Yet every day I saw a woman battered by a coward’s fist and I was repulsed by it. And I was saddened by it.”
Thus, his effort to recall the funny things that happened over his career.
In “Laughs, Lies & American Justice,” Doherty tells his life story, emphasizing the intricacies of how the district court system works and humorous anecdotes describing his encounters with prominent lawyers, judges, politicians and defendants alike.
He recounts Ralph Tavares, a member of the Grammy-winning R&B group Tavares, who was also a court officer periodically working in the Attleboro District Court. “Sometimes arrestees would be acting up and making noise so we would ask Ralph if he would go back to the cell block and calm the prisoners down by singing to them!” Doherty reports.
He recalls the juror candidate who said he had an “extensive background in law enforcement” because of his record of 17 arrests. And the time reporters believed that Red Sox MVP first baseman Mo Vaughn, who was being tried (and eventually acquitted) on drunken driving at Dedham Court, was getting preferential treatment because a car with the license plate “Mo” was parked in a judge’s spot. The plate belonged to Judge Maurice H. Richardson, who shared Vaughn’s nickname.
Vaughn also factored when Doherty’s swearing-in as Wrentham Court Clerk-Magistrate conflicted with Opening Day. He and his brother had season tickets. Also a Sox fan, Governor Cellucci agreed on a delay. “Chris and I got to see Mo Vaughn hit a walk-off grand slam in a Sox come-from-behind, ninth-inning victory against the Seattle Mariners before we celebrated at J.J. Foley’s Cafe!” Doherty recalls in the book. “The following Monday immediate family gathered at the State House in Boston to watch me become Clerk-Magistrate.”
Doherty got the nickname “East End Eddie” from other fishermen who noticed his preferred spot along the Cape Cod Canal.
The word “Lies” is in the title because, while many litigants tell the truth, many do not. “A lawyer once remarked, ‘you seem to make your living off of listening to people lie to you!’ And I said, ‘yeah, I guess that’s true,’” he admitted.
Doherty said he wants readers to know the lighter side of district court life but also to know that “most court people are hard-working, state employees. They work late, come in early, and work through lunch. They work hard for the people’s business.”
“Laughs, Lies & American Justice” was published in August of this year and is available on Lulu Press. “Seven Miles after Sundown” is available on Amazon.com.
By Michael J. DeCicco