Should Massachusetts judges be able to raise criminal defendants’ bail to prevent deportation? The state’s highest court will decide.

A man charged with child rape at a migrant shelter is appealing a change to his bail. As state and federal authorities clash over deportation matters in the Trump era, Massachusetts’ highest court will decide whether a state judge can increase the bail of someone facing deportation in an effort to keep them in the country to answer for criminal charges. This issue came before the Supreme Judicial Court for a hearing Wednesday through the case of Cory Alvarez, whose charges became a symbol of the safety issues at state-run emergency shelters last year after he was accused of raping...