What you think of Chief US District Court Judge Mark Wolf and his decision to overturn a death sentence for serial killer Gary Lee Sampson may depend on where you […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
The FBI’s unholy alliances
It seems fitting that the case against alleged Mob capo Mark Rossetti gets thrown into doubt over a long holiday weekend dominated by speculation about the FBI’s Icelandic Whitey Bulger […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Economy, Transportation
Judge sends T dispute over warranty to jury
A federal judge has set a jury trial date for Nov. 7 in the MBTA’s $91.5 million suit against the maker of its faulty concrete ties, saying a “less than […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Mass. sheriffs: Populist positions or partisan pandering?
How often do you hear about what the state’s county sheriffs are doing, except at election time or in stories about patronage hiring? In Massachusetts, the office has been marginalized […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download, Transportation
Crowd control in the Facebook era
The shooting of a homeless man by San Francisco transit police prompted reactions that have propelled Bay Area Rapid Transit into the history books. Last week, BART’s spokesman, (who apparently […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Youth violence takes an uglier turn
As Boston tries to figure out what went wrong at the recent Urban Music Festival at City Hall Plaza, major cities are facing fresh upsurges in another type of youth […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, The Download
Just between us, watch what you say
Mark Tremblay is, by all accounts, a reasonably intelligent family man who works two jobs, including installing “kill switches” in police cars. A 5-2 majority opinion by the state’s highest […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Economy, Politics, The Download
For lawmakers on Beacon Hill, patronage is the scandal that won’t go away
<div id=”fb-root”></div><script src=”First it was Probation, a legislative jobs bank that blew up in spectacular fashion in its sponsors’ faces. Now, just two months after the Legislature tried distancing itself […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Criminal capacity
gov. deval patrick wants to close two prisons this year to save money, but the Legislature isn’t enthusiastic about the idea, partly because of fears about violence stemming from cramming […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Environment, State House News Service
Nuclear disaster funding increases in Plymouth
the owner of Pilgrim Station is opening up its wallet to fund local emergency training, an indication that the nuclear accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is having […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
The war on mini-bikes
A war of words has broken out over the connection between motorbikes and violent crime in some Boston neighborhoods. Common sense seems to be the first casualty. The argument comes […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Brotherly loyalty
While Whitey Bulger was at the center of the spectacle that played out Friday afternoon at the Moakley courthouse, the lead supporting actor in the day’s drama was undoubtedly his […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
White all over
Hard to tell if the arrest of James “Whitey” Bulger is the beginning of the end, the end of the beginning, a chance for closure or merely the end of […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter
He went by Chris Gerhart, Christopher Chichester, Christopher Crowe, CCC Mountbatten, and ultimately Clark Rockefeller, but his real name was Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, one of the strangest and most successful […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
Frank credit
In his column yesterday, the Herald’s Howie Carr skewered US Rep. Barney Frank for recommending his then-partner Herb Moses for a job 20 years ago at Fannie Mae, a housing […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, Politics, The Download
The Download: The best school policy money can buy?
Bill Gates has made improving US schools one of the cornerstones of the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and he’s put his considerable stash of money where […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, The Download
The Download: Howie Inc.
Howie Carr, the one-man media empire, knows how to promote himself. His latest book, Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano: Whitey Bulger’s Enforcer and the Most Feared Gangster in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
The Download: Michele Bachmann’s teen problem
US Rep. Michele Bachmann is contemplating tossing her hat in the ring for the Republican presidential nomination. With Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee out, the Minnesota Republican says her telephone […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Patrick proposes youth violence prevention plan
Gov. Deval Patrick, who said prevention of youth violence would be one of the priorities of his second term, laid out his plan for tackling the problem at a Mattapan […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
The Download: Grave dancing
“We don’t need to spike the football,” President Obama said in his decision to not release photographs of Osama bin Laden’s dead body. “That’s not who we are.” But who […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care, Politics, The Download
The Download: Eternal vigilance in Boston and beyond
The death of Osama bin Laden changed little for Boston’s Logan International Airport, the launch point for the September 11 attacks almost ten years ago. Gov. Deval Patrick advised “an […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
The Download: The birtherism of a nation
According to a New York Times/CBS poll released last week, 25 percent of adults surveyed believe that President Obama was not born in the US. Among Republicans, the figure soars […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
The Download: No idle threat
With the price of oil topping $112 a barrel, the highest price in nearly three years, it won’t be long before we see $4 a gallon here in Massachusetts, perhaps […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Public sector pay: reasonable or excessive?
gov. scott walker’s victory in curbing collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin public sector workers casts a spotlight on the issue of disparities between public and private sector compensation. The same […]
