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# Judge Denies Injunction in Springfield Courthouse Suit, Finding No Evidence of Conflict
- URL: https://www.newenglandledger.com/breaking-judge-denies-injunction-in-springfield-courthouse-suit-finding-no-evidence-of-conflict/
- Published: 2026-08-24T21:00:10.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-26T21:45:59.000Z
- Description: The ruling lets the Healey administration and Liberty Junction keep advancing the new regional justice center, although the underlying lawsuit remains unresolved.
- Author: New England Ledger Staff
- Tags: #newsletter, Politics

A Hampden Superior Court judge has [denied](https://www.masscourts.org/eservices/searchresults.page?x=T%2A02tltWswZYn4KC6t1dpIW2fexHdnr7wilMA3268pCi220iaVw14Jgyb9UAyilKlKuUT0QiMxDCCd-1k8FWzyN%2AeOtG0uVycc4WqLDqLdEzSRFJdURD-e-iS7gNwdVpJK2DfXwPhid3Acz8%2A7GaD9icLTNgoDDR2qiPlBuOzTPXMqt-Qk4S%2A-o6EZ%2AZNqW1ACYrMAmsHX1EuaCJcNq83A&antiCache=1787603034231&ref=newenglandledger.com) an attempt by two unsuccessful bidders to halt Springfield's new courthouse project, handing the Healey administration and the Liberty Junction development team their first major courtroom victory in the dispute.

Judge David M. Hodge's 29-page memorandum of decision, issued Monday, denies the request by USPB JV LLC and Springfield Tower Square LLC for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. No court order now prevents the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance and the Massachusetts Trial Court from continuing lease negotiations with Liberty Junction.

It is not a final judgment. The developers, associated with James "Jeb" Balise and Dinesh Patel, are still seeking to overturn the state's selection and force a new procurement. But Hodge declined to freeze the project, and he did so after finding the plaintiffs had shown no likelihood of success on any of their four claims.

The state selected Liberty Junction in July to redevelop 125 Liberty Street into the new Roderick L. Ireland Regional Justice Center. The team includes government-facilities developer FD Stonewater, CoJo Partners, Suffolk Construction and a courthouse-focused architectural practice.

The numbers in the decision explain the outcome. Total estimated annual cost of occupancy under USPB's proposal was $59,242,690.73\. Under Liberty Junction's, it was $48,560,429.46\. That is at least $600,000 a month, roughly $420 million less than the plaintiff's own bid over the term, and nearly $300 million below the next closest finalist. Liberty Junction drew "better" or "best" rankings on 13 metrics. Hodge found the price tag was the number one driving factor and that the selection rested on objective ones.

The losing bidders alleged that John Barros's participation through CoJo Partners created a conflict after he became interim executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority. Hodge found the claim had "myriad difficulties," beginning with the fact that it was brought against DCAMM, which is not a state employee and so cannot violate the statute governing state employees. Beyond that, he found no evidence in what he called a voluminous record that Barros violated any provision. Barros, the judge wrote, "went above and beyond."

The timeline in the decision is the one the coverage never printed. Before his appointment, Barros disclosed his Liberty Junction interest in writing to MCCA's general counsel and consulted the State Ethics Commission's general counsel. Both advised he could keep the interest but should not participate in discussions or presentations to DCAMM, and that no filing was required until a proposer was selected. He skipped the March 5 interview. He had no communications with DCAMM, the selection committee or the Trial Court. He filed the disclosure the day after selection. He later divested entirely.

The plaintiffs' theory of improper influence rested on the fact that Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz sits on the MCCA board. Hodge found they "surmise" a connection without alleging any facts describing how it would work.

As The New England Ledger reported in "[White Noise](https://www.newenglandledger.com/white-noise-springfield/)," much of the political and media fury scapegoated Barros and his CoJo partner Conan Harris, two Black men attached to a much larger development team, while giving far less scrutiny to Mayor Domenic Sarno's relationships with the people behind competing proposals. Harris appears in this decision essentially once, as a co-owner of CoJo. There is no allegation against him anywhere in 29 pages.

Sarno promoted Peter Picknelly's riverfront courthouse plan years before the formal competition. Members of the Picknelly family contributed roughly $8,000 to Sarno during the 2022 to 2023 cycle, and Picknelly later hosted a Sarno fundraiser. Patel, meanwhile, was publicly described by Sarno as a friend.

For Gov. Maura Healey, the decision keeps a signature Springfield project and its projected taxpayer savings moving. For Attorney General Andrea Campbell, whose office called the complaint a fever dream of imagined malfeasance, it validates the state's opposition to emergency judicial intervention. For Barros and Harris, it does more than reject an injunction. It puts on the record that the conflict allegation had no evidence behind it.

For Liberty Junction, the ruling clears an immediate legal obstacle, although litigation risk remains. For Springfield, it preserves momentum toward replacing a courthouse plagued by mold, safety concerns and years of complaints from employees. On the public interest, Hodge was direct: enjoining the state would delay an already protracted process for a building the Trial Court says urgently needs replacement.

The lawsuit continues. For now, so does the courthouse project.