This is "it takes a village" Massachusetts. That means that the "village" has the power and makes things happen, for or against you as it may be.  Now the "village" is in reality the "tribe", and the tribe is a curious mix of Irish and Italian Catholics, Protestant Yankee Puritans,  illegal immigrants, and, as in anywhere around the world, many, many sheep (and, in the US, the sheep are often sure of themselves in reverse degree to which they are independent thinkers who can determine reality from the faux reality the politicos are trying to paint).

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Where the tribe holds power and control over a more open system where the individual, not tribal Principles and Poobahs, is the focus and where the individual is respected, encouraged to act, and only sanctioned later if laws are transgressed, there is a greater need for structurally providing for independent voices.

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"The inspector general’s office has always had subpoena power since its creation in 1980. But an amendment passed in 1984 required the inspector general to get permission for subpoenas from an eight-member oversight panel that included, among others, the state attorney general, the state auditor, the state comptroller, and the state public safety secretary."

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This is the tribe asserting its power over independent actors such that only those who get investigated are not the ones who have transgressed, but the ones who have lost (or never had) the protection of the tribe -- perhaps they crossed someone and simply did things with independence.

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“I never believed in the concentration of power in one person,” said Bellotti.  In other words, he believed in concentration of power in the tribe.

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"Prosecutors were always wary that defense attorneys might point to even minor discrepancies in what witnesses testified to before the inspector general’s office and what they testified to before the grand jury to question the truthfulness and accuracy of witnesses against their clients at trial, Sullivan said."

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Sounds true, but is a minor point compared to an additiona independent body doing investigations.

I find it past strange that the writer of this article would quote former Attorney General Belotti who not only pushed to contain the subpoena powers of the IG, but was also guilty of containing the ndotorious MBM scandal rather than pursuing its full complement of crooks. Belotti, you'll recall, after two state senators were convicted of using their office to extort payments from MBM, a state contractor, squashed the investigation when Senate President, Kevin Harrington, was discovered to have cashed a questionable personal check from MBM for $2,000. At the time, Belotti declared it was time to move on; a decision that smelled of old-time politics and political favors, just the things his office was empowered to fight.

Bellotti's right! Who made this Cunha a king? Reform the current board so they are available to hear requests for subpoena's. The AG should have final say using the Grand Jury. Kill this crazy bill!!!

Excellent article, by the way, Sean. A good balance of opinions that illustrate substantive and political (which are which?) positions for and against.

Massachusetts' history of political corruption is routed in its one party control that has gerrymandered 40% of its population out of the ability to elect a true representative government, where honest voices could be heard. the IG's inability to question witnesses under oath, without the approval of those that maybe questioned, is a blatant example of this corruption. The silence every elected official to support this matter is despicable and evidence of their utter lack of integrity from the governor on down. The press needs to pin politicians to the wall on this issue and make their individual stances public, perhaps with a full page of their individual reasons for not supporting the IG request that can be pinned their foreheads.