Bar Association of Norfolk County President Joanne M. DiPietro presented Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey the organization’s “Person of the Year” award at its annual meeting on May 18.

“This award really belongs to all the people in the DA’s office who work every day to make me look good and get justice for the victims of crime,” said Morrissey, now in his twelfth year as District Attorney.

Norfolk County courts were among the most impacted by state COVID protocols because of the age and condition of its courthouses. Many credit Morrissey for his dogged advocacy to get the courts open again, ranging from buying and installing necessary Plexiglas barriers in courtrooms to working with state officials on ventilation repairs and alternate trial space.

“Norfolk was one of only three counties that did not have a single courtroom with the space and ventilation necessary to have a jury trial. Our newest courthouse came online in 1971, our oldest in 1820,” Morrissey said. “The backlog that stoppage created was bad for victims, bad for defendants, contrary to the need for speedy trials, and something we are still digging out of.”

Morrissey said he strives to make the Norfolk DA’s Office one that works with opposing counsel to get to the right result in each case and does so respectfully. 

“It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable,” Morrissey said. “I tell my Assistant District Attorneys that a win doesn’t always mean a conviction; sometimes it means giving people the help they need.” Along that line, Norfolk is the only county to have a Veterans Treatment Court, Drug Treatment Court, Domestic Violence Court session, and Mental Health Court.

“The courts are a mechanism to impose punishment when necessary, but they can also be the arm of government that helps people put their lives back together,” DA Morrissey said. “I am grateful that the Norfolk County Bar Association sees me as a partner in that.”