In Search of the Mentally Retarded Offender: The Massachusetts Bar Association's Specialized Training and Advocacy Program (1974 - 1978)

• Date: 01 April 1986
• Published date: 01 April 1986
• DOI: 10.1177/003288558606600108
• Subject Matter: Articles

67

In

Search

of

the

Mentally

Retarded

Offender:

The

Massachusetts

Bar

Association’s

Specialized

Training

and

Advocacy

Program

(1974 -

1978)

Alex

L.

Moschella,

Esquire*

*The

author

is

the

former

director

of

the

Specialized

Training

and

Advocacy

Program

(STAP)

and

is

a

past

president

of

the

Greater

Boston

Association

for

Retarded

Citizens

(1981-83).

He

is

also

a

form-

er

assistant

executive

director

of

the

Massachusetts

Bar

Associatior

where

he

designed

and

developed

a

number

of

statewide

grants

an

projects

involving

the

rights

of

the

mentally

disabled.

He

currently

maintains

a

private

law

practice

in

Boston

and

is

a

member

of

a

spe-

cial

task

force

on

"Wills

and

Bequests"

of

the

National

Association

for

Retarded

Citizens,

Arlington,

Texas.

Introduction

The

Massachusetts

Bar

Association

(MBA)

launched

a

pi

oneering

project

in

1974

that

was

designed

to

identify

and

provid.

intense

advocacy

services

to

the

so-called

&dquo;mentally

retarde:

offender.&dquo;

This

project

was

fondly

called

the

&dquo;Specialized

Train-

ing

and

Advocacy

Program&dquo;

or

simply

STAP.

STAP,

like

man

federally

funded

programs

of

its

vintage,

experienced

its

heyda

and

then

due

to

funding

cutbacks

and

changes

in

priorities,

as

wei

as

other

organizational

shifts

in

emphasis,

eventually

saw

its

exist

ence

fade

from

the

Massachusetts

criminal

justice

scene

in

1978.

STAP

was

also

preceded

by

an

uncommon

amount

of

time,

energy

and

effort

expended

by

the

state

bar

association,

at

the

time

con

prised

of

12,000

lawyer

members.

The

MBA

as

a

state

bar

associi

tion

lent

its

political

clout

and

credibility

to

focusing

substantia,

attention

on

the

wide

array

of

social

service

and

public

policy

questions

raised

by

the

subject

of

the

mentally

retarded

offendew

(MRO).

All

totalled,

the

MBA’s

involvement

with

issues

relate,.

to

the

MRO

and

STAP

spanned

a

six-year

period

from

1972-1978

This

article

will

summarize

the

key

elements

of

STAP

as

a

model

program

for

MRO

offenders,

with

a

special

emphasis

on

offering

commentary

on

several

important

lessons

learned.

STAP

was

a

visionary

project.

In

looking

back,

the

prudent

observer

of

both

the

current

literature

and

program

models

that