An $84,000-a-year court job awarded to the daughter of Massachusett Governor's Councilor Robert Jubinville is a test of whether the state court system has changed its hiring practices since a 2011 patronage scandal led to federal racketeering charges, reports the Boston Globe. Joseph Joseph Ligotti, a district court clerk magistrate, recently offered Maura Jubinville a job as assistant clerk, a coveted position that drew more than 200 applicants. Robert Jubinville and Ligotti are old friends.
Maura Jubinville, 32, had been a low-level Probation Department employee making little more than half as much money. Unlike other job candidates, she had no law degree. Harry Spence, hired as court administrator to improve management and ensure greater fairness in hiring, has vetoed Ligotti's job offer. He is also moving to discipline Ligotti for failing to disclose his relationship with Maura Jubinville's father. But the group that represents court clerks is challenging Spence's authority to stop the younger Jubinville's hiring or to punish Ligotti.