A dead black man, peaceful protests, and then riots. The “could it happen here?” syndrome has gripped Boston again with the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Gray’s death in police custody […]
Civil and Constitutional Rights
Posted inPolitics, The Download, Transportation
Pushing back on Baker’s T reform
Lawmakers began pushing back against the Baker administration’s MBTA reform plan on Monday, questioning the need for a special T control board, raising doubts about unspent capital funds, and suggesting […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Lessons from Ferguson
FOR MONTHS WE’VE all watched the travesty in Ferguson, Missouri, unfold from the death of Michael Brown, to the militarized police response to public protest, to the Department of Justice […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Sketchy federal program sells citizenship
Photos by Michael Manning THE BASTILLE KITCHEN is the kind of destination restaurant that stamps a redeveloped neighborhood as a success. The Innovation District bistro, owned in part by renowned […]
Posted inThe Download
Eavesdropping on Instagram
The police and school departments in Lowell are preparing to hire a company to monitor social media use within the city’s borders, scrubbing public posts on Twitter, Facebook, and other […]
Posted inPolitics
Boston firm seeks to halt Internet censorship
A Boston-based nonprofit is planning to use a $35,000 grant from the Knight Foundation to begin developing a system that would notify Internet users when their online activity is being […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Lynn police cleared in fatal shooting
The Essex District Attorney says the fatal shooting of an Iraqi war veteran in September by Lynn police was justified because the man, Denis Reynoso, had grabbed an officer’s gun […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
How the data were gathered
It wasn’t easy assembling the data for this report. No one agency or office compiles a comprehensive list of instances when police use deadly force, so CommonWealth gathered the information […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Clearing the cops
FROM THE TINY TOWN of Colrain at the Vermont border to the siren-pierced streets of Boston, state and local police have shot and killed 73 people across Massachusetts over the […]
Posted inPolitics
A gay-friendly field
If the goal was to draw out differences among candidates for mayor on issues of concern to the gay community, last week’s forum sponsored by the Dorchester gay political group […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Naughton’s gun tour
The school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, sparked an intense national debate about gun control, but the issue soon faded in the face of a split Congress. The debate has also […]
Posted inPolitics
Poll finds strong support for shutdown of Boston
A NEW POLL INDICATES Massachusetts residents overwhelmingly support state leaders and law enforcement officials who locked down parts of Greater Boston during the manhunt for a Marathon bomber. The poll […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Voting Rights Act debate misses larger civic opportunities
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts caused a civil rights brouhaha last month by citing a seeming disparity between voter registration and turnout rates among African-Americans living in Massachusetts […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Insurers oppose gun liability insurance
TWO GROUPS REPRESENTING most of the companies selling insurance in Massachusetts say they oppose a legislative proposal requiring gun owners to purchase special liability insurance. The two groups, the Property […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Menino, Warren back gun liability insurance
SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN AND BOSTON MAYOR THOMAS MENINO say they support Beacon Hill legislation that would require gun owners to buy liability insurance for their weapons. Rep. David Linksy, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, State House News Service
Gun control pushed by Obama, state officials
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEGOV. DEVAL PATRICK AND REP. DAVID LINSKY of Natick are pushing gun control measures in Massachusetts, while President Obama unveiled a $500 million package of reforms, calling […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Economy, Politics
Cause development
JOHN ROSENTHAL’S BLACKBERRY lit up. Media requests poured in from NECN, WCVB, and WBUR. MSNBC wanted to talk. Even the Arabic-language network Al Jazeera found its way to his door. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Police misconduct
Outside the Area C police station in the Fields Corner section of Dorchester. Photo by J. Cappuccio. ON APRIL 22, 2009, CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT and his girlfriend were driving in Boston […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Muster the militia!
“A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of the State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” –Second Amendment to the US […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
What does Vidal Sassoon have to do with P3s?
Vidal Sassoon died this month, and that news brought me back to the 1980s somehow (or maybe it was the new version of “Dallas.” Yikes.) But it reminded me that […]
Posted inPolitics
Stories on area hockey haters deliver cheap-shot hit on the city
The headlines all have a familiar ring to them. So familiar, in fact, that the New York Times incorporates that déjà vu feeling into the headline atop its story: “Hockey […]
Posted inPolitics
Lowell teens lobby for the 17-year-old vote
When it comes to ranking the interests of teenagers, political activism would presumably come low on the list, somewhere between heeding good advice and doing the laundry. But teens in […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Civic booster shot
When it comes to civic engagement, Massachusetts teens could hit the ground running and automatically be registered to vote on their 18th birthday under legislation approved yesterday by a Beacon […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
The value of a vigorous press
On Friday, Boston Globe editor Martin Baron was honored as the 2012 recipient of the Stephen Hamblett First Amendment Award, given by the New England First Amendment Center. Below is […]