The program will introduce Middlesex DA Marian Ryan and highlight her work in the largest county in New England, covering 54 cities and towns. Her office represents the State in twelve District Courts, four Juvenile Courts, and two Superior Courts located throughout the county.

Across the country, and in our state, there is a growing understanding of the importance of local and statewide elected office in shaping government and preserving our democracy. Marian Ryan’s Office of the Middlesex District Attorney has sought to redress racial injustice, reduce unfair judicial practices, address the opioid crisis, support legal means of immigration and find ways to extend restorative justice. During her tenure, the DA’s Office has created crime prevention programs as well as a Cold Case Unit that has delivered answers and sometimes justice in decades-old crimes.

Recently DA Ryan has been focusing on the rise of disinformation and misinformation in public media and the difficulty in differentiating truth from falsehood. “If we lose the ability to accept objective facts,” she has said, “it eats away at our democracy.”

This program is the second in the 2023-2024 LWV Lexington First Friday Forum series. All Lexington League forums are free and open to the public, and as always, there will be time for Q&A after the program. 

The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization dedicated to the principles of self-government established in the Constitution of the United States. The League works to promote political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government. All League forums are free and open to the public. For more information about the League go to https://my.lwv.org/massachusetts/lexington.