LAW ENFORCEMENT officials have concluded the death of Boston University professor David K. Jones last fall was an accident, caused when he ducked around a fence blocking access to a broken-down staircase near the JFK/UMass Station and then fell through a gap in the stairway. The September 11 death provoked an outpouring of grief and […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
Marijuana regulators support updates to drugged driving laws
SINCE MASSACHUSETTS LEGALIZED recreational marijuana, Gov. Charlie Baker has been pushing the Legislature to also update the state’s laws against driving under the influence of drugs. But a lengthy discussion by the state’s marijuana regulators on Thursday illustrated the immense challenges lawmakers will face should they choose to move forward with the governor’s bill. […]
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Needham police officer charged with insider trading
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TWO MEN from Needham, one of them a police officer, and a Rhode Island man were arrested Wednesday in connection with an alleged conspiracy to trade based on inside information. US Attorney Rachael Rollins announced the arrests, with her office saying the charges stem from information shared about the planned acquisition […]
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The crisis of missing Black women and girls in Massachusetts
“If Black women were free it, would mean everyone else would have to be free” – Combahee River Collective Statement I START WITH this line taken from the Combahee River Collective’s statement, issued by the Black feminist lesbian socialist organization formed in 1974 in Boston. The Combahee River Collective was created due to the exclusion […]
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Baker commutes sentences of two men convicted of murder
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday commuted the sentences of two men who were convicted of murder. the first commutations the Republican governor has issued since he took office. “I believe both men, having taken responsibility for their actions and paid their debt to the Commonwealth by serving sentences longer than most individuals found guilty of […]
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Federal lawsuit alleges brutal abuse by Souza-Baranowski officers
A FEDERAL LAWSUIT filed by Prisoners’ Legal Services on Monday alleges brutal, violent, and racist behavior by correctional officers at the Souza-Baranowski prison, giving a rare look at the alleged horrific abuse that occurred behind the prison walls. The lawsuit followed a Boston Globe Spotlight investigation last summer, which depicted a chilling account of excessive force by prison officers at Souza-Baranowski. […]
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How Boston escaped the national spike in homicides
IT’S BEEN A grim companion to the death toll of COVID-19: While the virus has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, homicide rates have also been soaring nationally. Homicides rose by 30 percent in 2020, the largest single-year increase on record. Last year saw a smaller increase, but still an upward trend. While cities across […]
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Rollins goes out with a bang — at MBTA
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY Rachael Rollins said Thursday that her office would open an investigation into whether the MBTA bore any criminal responsibility for the Green Line trolley crash last summer that injured 27 riders. Rollins, who plans to leave the office on Monday when she is sworn in as the […]
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Attack on principal underscores need for holistic response to safety
BOSTON MAYOR Michelle Wu is right: We need a different approach to assuring safety in our schools—one that prioritizes student and staff safety but also prioritizes transformation of the way young people view themselves and their place in the world. Prevention is better than crisis interventions. There is no conflict between DA Rachael Rollins’s earlier […]
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‘Red flag’ gun bill used just six times last year
WHEN GOV. CHARLIE BAKER signed the so-called “red flag” bill in July 2018, it was pitched as a way to save lives. Under the law, a family member or police department can file a petition to have a judge confiscate someone’s legally owned gun, after a hearing, if the person poses a danger to themselves […]