Andrea Cabral likes being sheriff

The Sheriff of Suffolk launches her bid for reelection in 2010 tonight with a fundraiser at the Hampshire House.

Possibly of more immediate concern to Cabral is a Massachusetts Appeals Court ruling today that says she has to submit to arbitration when making shift changes among prison guards due to layoffs. The ruling (which Cabral could appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court) stems from her decision in 2002 to re-assign some workers after layoffs. The union objected, saying any such changes had to go to arbitration first.