A single Supreme Judicial Court justice appeared skeptical Thursday over a push to permanently dismiss hundreds of criminal cases, as Massachusetts grapples with a constitutional crisis affecting people charged with a crime in the state that’s stretched nearly six months.

The crisis began after a work stoppage over bar advocate attorneys’ pay left thousands of defendants without lawyers, triggering the court’s emergency Lavallee protocol — a safeguard that forces judges to release defendants without counsel after seven days and dismiss cases after 45.

Prosecutors warned the fallout has been severe, pointing to 26 serious cases dismissed in Dorchester alone that include accusations such as the sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl, the beating of a pregnant woman and attacks involving

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