John Bulger sues state for pension

Kin of victims slain by brother denounce move

John P. Bulger worked for the state for 32 years.

The youngest brother of fugitive mobster James J. "Whitey" Bulger is suing the State Retirement Board, saying that although he thwarted efforts to capture his notorious brother, he deserves to collect his $65,000-a-year pension.

John P. Bulger, a former juvenile court clerk magistrate in Boston, argues that the punishment was excessive.

The Retirement Board revoked the pension in 2003, saying that John Bulger violated his oath as a clerk magistrate when he lied to grand juries investigating his brother's disappearance.

The lawsuit is stirring outrage from the relatives of Whitey Bulger's alleged victims, who say the loss of a pension is a small price to pay for misleading authorities who were trying to locate a brother wanted for numerous slayings.

"Such unbelievable carnage they wreaked on my son for eight hours, and yet they make a lot out of his pension, " said Emily McIntyre of Quincy, whose son, John, was choked and shot to death by Whitey Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi in South Boston in 1984. "My God in heaven, that's such a little thing in life. He should be glad that he has his life. I have to live with much, much less than that."

Victor Davis, whose sister, Debra, was allegedly killed by Whitey Bulger in 1981, echoed the sentiment.

"We've paid such a big price that these kind of things seem trivial about his pension," Davis said yesterday. "Our punishment has been like a 26-year punishment. . . . His punishment can't even come close."

In the lawsuit, John Bulger argues that the loss of his pension, valued at a total of $800,000, violates his constitutional protection from excessive fines.

He could not be reached for comment yesterday, and his lawyer, Paul T. Hynes, did not return phone messages.

The lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal actions John Bulger has launched since he went before the Retirement Board in August 2003 to argue that he had nothing to live on besides his pension. The 68-year-old South Boston resident who is known as "Jackie" worked for the state for 32 years, until his retirement in 2001.

Despite his plea, the board voted in September 2003 to permanently revoke his pension, arguing that it had no choice because he had pleaded guilty to perjury in April of that year. In that case, John Bulger admitted that he lied to federal grand juries in 1996 and 1998, when he told them that he had not had any communication with Whitey Bulger and did not know about a safe deposit box that was jointly held by both men.

Whitey Bulger fled Massachusetts in 1995 to evade a federal racketeering indictment. Suspected in the slayings of 19 people, he is among the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives.

John Bulger argued his case through a series of lower courts until last year, when he went to the Supreme Judicial Court. There his lawyer argued that John Bulger did not violate his oath as a clerk magistrate because he had lied to the grand juries out of "family loyalty."

John Bulger lost that case last March, when the court ruled unanimously that "the nature of [John] Bulger's crimes cannot be separated from the nature of his particular office, when what is at stake is the integrity of the judicial system."

This case, filed this week in Suffolk Superior Court, is an attempt to carry on his battle. It comes after another brother, former University of Massachusetts president William M. Bulger, won a ruling from the SJC last year that boosted his pension by $17,000. In that case, William Bulger argued successfully that his housing allowance as a university president should be factored into his pension.

State pension officials said yesterday that they were growing a bit weary of the battle with John Bulger. "I'm not a lawyer, but I just assume when the SJC rules, that's the end of the line," said Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, who chairs the Retirement Board. "I would prefer to put this behind me, and I think he would not want to keep reminding everyone of the situation."

Ralph White, a member of the Retirement Board, said that if John Bulger feels wronged, he should take his case to the Legislature.

"His battle is not with the board; it's with those who make the law," White said.

Cahill agreed. "It's a tough punishment; there's no question about that," he said. "But I think it was fair."