IN LIGHT OF the lynching of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter uprising, we call on the city of Boston to engage in the ongoing conversation, initiated by […]
David J. Harris
The phrase ‘criminal justice system’ has to go
IT IS BECOMING increasingly clear that we, as a nation, have arrived at a crossroads. Between the coronavirus and the private and state-sanctioned lynchings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd sandwiched […]
What if we eliminated the police?
I HATE the PO-lice. This is not an easy thing to admit and will certainly generate a great deal of heat, but it is past time to do so. To […]
Structural racism is the real pandemic
AS THE DEATH TOLL mounts daily from COVID-19, so do the headlines and data documenting its disparate impact on communities of color, especially black people, immigrants, native people, poor people, […]
Legislative hearings have become mostly theater
LAST WEEK WE JOINED 200 other Massachusetts residents for a hearing of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary. The hearing, set to cover sentencing, corrections, and criminal records, had […]
Boston officials need to fund violence prevention
BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH recently submitted his proposed fiscal 2020 operating and capital budget to the Boston City Council. From April 22 to May 21, the City Council held hearing […]
