Tara DeSisto
Tara DeSisto appointed development director for the New England Legal Foundation
The New England Legal Foundation (NELF) has appointed Tara DeSisto as the nonprofit’s new development director.
Tara is a fourth-generation Bostonian who graduated from the University of Massachusetts – Boston where she was the elected student representative to the Board of Trustees. She comes to NELF after serving as the director of development for the Libertarian National Party based out of Alexandria, Va., as well as building up a strong client base around the country in her own consultancy High Wire Strategies.
Tara has worked on a wide array of fundraising and event management projects housed in universities across the greater Boston Area. Some of these successful projects include: The Forum for Cities in Transition and the Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disaster, both housed at the McCormack Graduate School at UMass Boston; The Center for Women and Business at Bentley University and The Future of Diplomacy Project out of Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Tara lives with her family in Newton and her greatest passion is being a football mom.
“NELF has nearly tripled in size over the last three years based on the strength of our mission to advance free enterprise and inclusive growth in New England,” said NELF President Dan Winslow. “Tara will step into a role that has been vacant for more than a year, so we are thrilled to have someone of her capabilities and passion for our mission to join our team. She will help take NELF to the next level of excellence.”
People of color incarcerated at higher rates in New Hampshire, but data is limited
Four years after a commission to study law enforcement in New Hampshire produced a series of recommendations about better policing practices, people of color continue to be disproportionally incarcerated in the state at virtually the same rates.
For both Black and Latino populations, incarceration rates at the state prison exceed their demographic make up of New Hampshire. Black people make up less than two percent of the state’s demographics, yet are seven percent of the prison population. Latino communities represent four percent of the state but six percent of the prison, according to a brief from the New Hampshire Center for Equity and Justice, which uses data from the Department of Correction’s 2022 annual report.
The same rates held true in 2020, when the Monitor collected state prison demographic data.
These numbers mirror national trends, said Anthony Poore, the president of the New Hampshire Center for Justice and Equity. Regardless, they highlight a concerning trend in the state, he said.
“That’s four times our population stat, that is currently incarcerated,” he said. “Is justice equal and is it delivered equally here in the state of New Hampshire? Simply based upon these numbers alone one would have to say maybe not.”
The elevated incarceration rates for people of color send a clear message to Gilles Bissonnette, and one he has known to be true since he started working for the ACLU of New Hampshire in 2013.
“It’s hard to dispute the notion that we have significant disparities with respect to incarceration rates in New Hampshire relative to the racial demographics that we have of residents in the state of New Hampshire,” he said. “That’s been the case for years, for as long as I’ve been here.”
To Bissonnette, who serves as the ACLU’s legal director, there’s an obvious sequence of questions that follow these incarceration rates – does the root cause of these disparities lie within the court system, arrests or stops from law enforcement?
It is nearly impossible to answer these questions because the state does not publish demographic data aside from that of the state prison population, he said.
“At the very least we should have data that helps inform us as a state as to why these incarceration rates, incarceration disparities exist,” he said. “It will inform us how to address those particular issues.”
Data from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, annual reports from the state Department of Corrections and county reports do not reveal demographic data on who is incarcerated, aside from the state prison population.
However, this data is available within Merrimack County and compiled with prison intakes.
In 2023, the county department of corrections had just over 1,800 intakes. Of that population, nine percent identified as Black while 4 percent identified as Latino, according to Travis Cushman, the superintendent of the county department of corrections.
Information sharing among the state’s ten counties can be complicated, said Cushman, typically due to resources available in each county.
“Every county is independent,” he said. “We might have a little more technology down here than Coos County.”
The fragmented data that is available begins to tell a story of discrimination in the state, said Poore. But any further analysis is hindered by what is missing.
“The lack of race specific data collection and arrest, booking, sentence and jail population limits further analysis,” he said. “As a state we are piss poor when it comes to data collection.”
In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota, Gov. Chris Sununu established the Law Enforcement Accountability, Community and Transparency Commission to examine policing in the state and issue reform recommendations.
Part of the recommendations, which ranged from the use of body cameras to publicizing agreements with school districts, included statewide demographic data collection for all interactions between law enforcement and the public.
The legislature has repeatedly rejected acting on this recommendation, said Bissonnette, which only prolongs fixing a fragmented system.
Critics of the recommendation insinuated that the need for data collection to address this issue assumes that there is a problem in New Hampshire. But that might not be the case, said Bissonnette. Again, stronger data collection would help reveal that.
“We may have a problem, we may not. We don’t know because we don’t have the data,” he said. “That’s the classic chicken or the egg issue.” — Michaela Towfighi, Concord Monitor
Robert Waters, Jr. and Westville Remarketing, Inc. settle alleged false claims act violations
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire entered into a settlement agreement with Robert Michael Waters, Jr. and Westville Remarketing, Inc. to resolve allegations that Waters and Westville violated the False Claims Act by taking and misusing proceeds of an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) to purchase a yacht, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.
Waters and his Company, Westville, have agreed to pay the proceeds from an auction of the yacht and an additional $150,000 to the government. In the settlement, Waters agreed to the auction of the yacht and to cooperate in the transfer of title to whoever purchases it. The auction of the yacht will occur at a later date.
“Unfortunately, individuals like Mr. Waters attempted to inappropriately benefit from government programs aimed at aiding Americans and the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young. “This Office and our law enforcement partners are working tirelessly to uncover this widespread fraud and recover these funds on behalf of American taxpayers. This settlement demonstrates that we will pursue both civil and criminal avenues to hold those who committed COVID-19 pandemic fraud accountable and divest them of their ill-gotten gains.”
The United States contends that Waters and his Company, Westville, falsely represented to the Small Business Administration (SBA) that Westville would apply the proceeds of the EIDL to its business to counteract the negative economic effects of COVID-19, and instead used $340,000 of the loan proceeds to purchase an Azimut yacht called the “Alisa.”
On April 7, 2020, Robert Waters, a 50% owner of Westville, submitted an application for an EIDL for $40,000 on Westville’s behalf. On December 27, 2021, he applied for a modification of the original EIDL for an additional $343,800. On February 15, 2022, just over one month after receiving the EIDL proceeds from the SBA, Waters transferred $340,000 of the funds to another entity he wholly owned, and spent the funds and other money to purchase the yacht “Alisa.” This yacht had no legitimate business purpose.
Waters was indicted by a federal grand jury on August 2, 2023. The U.S. Attorney’s Office moved to dismiss the indictment following a revelation of additional information. The Court accepted the motion, and the criminal case was dismissed on March 29, 2024.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service led the investigation. The United States Marshal Service assisted with the investigation and seizure of the vessel. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron Gingrande and Raphael Katz represented the government in this matter. — U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Hampshire press release
AG John Formella to receive the “Governor Meldrim Thomson Jr. Principle Above Politics Award” at Annual Amos Tuck Dinner
NHGOP Chairman Chris Ager released the following statement announcing that Attorney General John Formella will be the recipient of this year’s Governor Meldrim Thomson Jr. Principle Above Politics Chairman’s Award:
“Attorney General Formella’s tenure has been marked by his rigorous defense of our state’s rights and foundational principles, effectively blocking federal overreach through his challenges to vaccine mandates and burdensome environmental regulations.
“His proactive measures to enhance public safety and integrity — from expanding the Cold Case Unit, to initiating significant actions against major social media platforms for harming youth mental health — stand as a testament to his commitment to upholding the rule of law and serving the people of New Hampshire with distinction.
“These achievements truly reflect the ethos of Governor Thomson’s legacy of putting principles over politics.”
The Governor Meldrim Thomson Jr. Principle Above Politics Chairman’s Award is presented each year to an individual who has demonstrated courageous and principled leadership. Nominations may be made by any New Hampshire Republican. The recipient is chosen by the State Chairman in close consultation with the children living in New Hampshire of Governor and Mrs. Meldrim Thomson Jr.
