The Return of the Cat Lady

The protest amounts to a cardboard box that has been sitting in front of the court's entrance since Tuesday, covered with angry, sometimes cryptic messages. Ms. Erickson keeps a quiet vigil each day beside the courthouse, sometimes sprawling gracelessly on her belly across a bench and typing on her laptop, other times chatting with a strong-smelling older gentleman who seems to be partial to her cause. Because we were unable to get a clear sense of what, precisely, was prompting Ms. Erickson's courthouse protest, Bostonist went and had a chat with her this morning. Here is what she told us:

Ms. Erickson was charged with various criminal counts of cruelty to animals. She argued in court that the evidence against her (the cats, both living and dead) was illegally seized from her apartment in violation of the Fourth Amendment and should be suppressed. The trial court judge agreed, and refused to allow that evidence (an independent source confirms that the Commonwealth's appeal of this ruling is currently pending in the Appeals Court). Erickson then filed a routine motion to have her property (the living cats) returned to her, since it couldn't be used as evidence (being a lawyer, Bostonist can tell you that this is pretty common; it's frequently used by drug suspects to recover money or other legal property taken from them at the time of arrest). The trial court judge granted Erickson's motion, and the Commonwealth filed a special appeal to a single Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, arguing that it would be against public policy to return sick animals to a woman on trial for mistreating them. The single Justice in this case is Roderick Ireland, making Erickson's protest-box especially amusing: "WHERE IS JUSTICE IRELAND?" it says, but the layout initially made Bostonist wonder whether there was a missing comma and she was actually addressing her question to the Emerald Isle.

Erickson, who has filed so many frivolous lawsuits that she is currently banned from filing new cases in Massachusetts courts without a judge's special permission, is protesting because she feels Justice Ireland is taking too long to rule on her case. She told us that the cats, which are Persians, are fragile and may be "deteriorating" while in state custody. (Erickson is a cat breeder.) She conceded, however, that the state wasn't required to turn in its written arguments in the case until Wednesday, so Ireland has only had about a day to deliberate. Nevertheless, her indignation was unmistakable, as was her inclination to keep talking all day. Bostonist urges readers with some time on their hands to swing by Pemberton Square (off Cambridge Street downtown, behind Three Center Plaza) and chat with the Cat Lady. We didn't quite have the gumption to ask her about the 150 pounds of beef kidneys, but if someone else does, we'd love to know what she says.