Former State Senator, Newton Resident Faces Ethics Charge

Former state senator and Newton resident Cheryl Jacques is facing ethics charges after she allegedly tried to use her position as an administrative judge for the state Department of Industrial Accidents to lower her brother's dental bill. 

According to a report in the Boston Globe, the State Ethics Commission alleges Jacques violated the state conflict of interest law after she asked the dental office to write off the remaining balance of her brother-in-law's dental bill, which totaled more than $1,000.

Jacques' attorney, Leonard H. Kesten, told the Globe that Jacques called the dentist office to ask for the lowered price after her brother-in-law believed he was charged the full price rather than the lower, PPO rate. 

“She wasn’t trying to get free service,” Kesten told the Globe. “She was trying to get them to charge the appropriate price. It was consumer protection.”

Prior to her work at the Department of Industrial Accidents, Jacques served six terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. She represented several towns in Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex Counties before she was succeeded by Scott Brown.

According to her website, she also writes and speaks publicly on a number of national issues surrounding civil rights, diversity and politics.