Law Enforcement

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By | January 01, 0001

The 13th Annual Muzzle Awards

A look at the dishonorable enemies of free speech and personal liberty in New England
A year and a half into the Age of Obama, we are learning a lesson we should have figured out long ago — that repression, once in place, is rarely rolled back all the way, and that liberals no less than conservatives are reluctant to give up power.
By DAN KENNEDY | July 05, 2010

Charges against former UMass student to be dropped

Justice Is Served Dept.
A Mattapan man's 28-month legal ordeal ended in a Northampton courtroom last week, as the Northwestern District Attorney's office agreed to drop all charges against him pending an additional two months of incident-free pre-trial probation.
By JEREMY C. FOX | June 09, 2010

QB freak

No charges for Roethlisberger, but Big Ben’s reputation might be sacked
Trying to parse the situation with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and his sexual-assault allegations, one comes to some interesting conclusions. The strategy pursued by law enforcement in this case speaks volumes.
By MATT TAIBBI | April 22, 2010

It takes an identity thief

How Karen Keester made off with $250,000 — and became one of Boston's most accomplished con artists
In late April 2006, shortly before the hearing to evict his tenant Karen Keester, Lee Gersch received a phone call from Keester’s twin sister, Michelle. She had just gotten divorced, Michelle claimed, and needed to move to Boston from Arkansas for a new job. She suggested that she and her cat could move right into Keester’s Beacon Hill flat.
By JACLYN TROP | April 27, 2010

UMass racial-confrontation case may finally come to a close

Is justice being served?
A racial incident that rocked Western Massachusetts two years ago may finally be laid to rest this week, as a black former UMass Amherst student charged with aggravated assault returns to court, apparently having reached an agreement with the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.
By JEREMY C. FOX | March 31, 2010

New ways to prevent domestic violence

Following Up
About eight months ago, the Sanford-based anti-domestic-violence organization Caring Unlimited launched a court-monitoring program that placed observers in York County courtrooms to take notes on domestic-violence case proceedings.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | March 17, 2010

The war over peace

A decade after the 'Boston Miracle,' violent crime has again overtaken parts of the city. Can the miracle makers create a new peace?
In the early infancy of this five-week-old year, Boston has been rocked by four homicides and 10 non-fatal shootings. By the time this goes to print, there may well be more.
By CHRIS FARAONE | February 05, 2010

How much rock would a Woodstock stock if

Three-day festival of peace and music
Hopes are high among the quartet of rock entrepreneurs – John Roberts, Joel Roseman, Michael Land, and Arnie Kornfeld – who think they can succeed where George Wein, Newport promoter, has not.
By ELEANOR WEBER | July 23, 2009

Gates-Gate

Banner come back
If there was ever any doubt that race and perception are intimately linked, the bizarre arrest of Harvard superstar Henry Louis Gates Jr. — which hit the news this past Monday — should dispel it once and for all.
By ADAM REILLY | July 22, 2009

By | January 01, 0001

Wideouts gone wild

Lock the liquor cabinet and hide the keys — it's that time of year again
Late February is a heavy-arrest period in American sports, for the simple reason that the college-football season is over, spring practices have not yet begun, and they have not yet deployed armed alcohol-sniffing police robots on college campuses around the nation.
By MATT TAIBBI | February 18, 2009

Graffiti wars

Cops and taggers play a high-stakes game of cat and mouse
Even though he’s headed to prison, SPEK will still be visible in Massachusetts.
By CHRIS FARAONE | December 12, 2008

Freedom watch: Jailhouse bloc

The real reason law-and-order types love mandatory-minimum sentencing? It's money in their pockets.
With aromatic puffs of change, Bay State stoners rejoiced on Election Day.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE AND KYLE SMEALLIE | December 09, 2008

The son also sets

Sports Blotter
Most crime stories involving ex-athletes pushing 50 have the same plot: an end-of-the-line washout case, six weeks behind on his final car payment, and literally fleeing on foot from an army of outraged creditors and/or junk dealers punches out his wife/best friend/total stranger in an Ann Arbor pool hall in a dispute over an autographed merchandise sale gone bad.
By MATT TAIBBI | October 27, 2008