Justices on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments Monday on whether hearings for 28 men accused of paying for sex at a brothel network with locations in Cambridge and Watertown should play out publicly.
The men are subject to a show cause hearing, in which a state clerk magistrate will consider whether they should face formal criminal charges. The hearings are typically not open to the public, according to the state.
Lawyers for the accused want a lower court’s ruling to make their clients’ hearings public overturned, saying that open hearings could harm their reputations.
Defense attorney Benjamin Urbelis argued that even..