Criminal Law

Latest Articles

Blunt object

The political fight over a November marijuana-reform ballot question has sparked a Battle of the Bong
Question 2 supporters claim Massachusetts district attorneys committed “at least 15 violations of Massachusetts campaign-finance and election laws” in the runup to the marijuana-decriminalization vote.
By CHRIS FARAONE | September 25, 2008

The combat zone

Who's who and what's what
This article originally appeared in the July 24, 1973 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
By TOM SHEEHAN | August 14, 2008

Darkness falls in the Dark Knight

Scars run deep in Christopher Nolan’s Götterdämmerung
“The night is darkest just before the dawn,” says District Attorney Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight .
By BRETT MICHEL | July 16, 2008

Naked in the public square

Freedom Watch
In the finest Puritan tradition, Middlesex District Attorney Gerald Leone is crusading to save Harvard Square from the shock and awe of the nude human form.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE AND JAMES TIERNEY | June 25, 2008

The failure of ‘tough-on-crime’ tactics

Left untreated, drug addicts pose greater costs for everyone else
It was after midnight, and Dawn Jacques lay sleepless in her cell at the Adult Correctional Institutions, shuddering. Bathed in sweat, she stared at the ceiling for hours until it blurred.
By TE-PING CHEN | May 08, 2008

Study finds the ACI remains a debtors’ prison

Credit check
Every day, an average of 18 people are incarcerated at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) due to their inability to pay court fines.
By ARIEL WERNER | April 23, 2008

The bong show

Massachusetts lawmakers are pushing to criminalize Salvia. Is this a test-run for marijuana-law reform?
Some state legislators are using the flawed logic of prohibition to try to outlaw another plant they fear kids are using as a legal substitute for pot.
By JAMES TIERNEY | April 23, 2008

Scare tactics

When comics were too crude for school
A steady ripple of anti-comics sentiment was crystallized in the early ’50s.
By DOUGLAS WOLK | March 24, 2008

The case of Milan Kohout

The right of a performance artist represents the rights of all Americans. Plus, an opportunity with Cuba.
Kohout, a serious man, was engaged in the serious business of political protest.
By EDITORIAL | February 21, 2008

Framed?

The Boston Police investigation of Stephan Cowans led to a wrongful conviction. Was it incompetent — or corrupt?
The Boston Phoenix has uncovered substantial new information about the Cowans case.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 07, 2008

Righting a staggering wrong

It is time for the US Attorney to investigate how and why the Boston police wrongfully convicted Stephan Cowans
US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan should launch an investigation into how that department managed to help convict the wrong man in the 1997 shooting of a Boston cop.
By EDITORIAL | February 06, 2008

Wave of reform

There is now a chance to fix Maine’s broken corrections system, but only if the public speaks up
A wave of change is moving swiftly toward Maine’s jails and prisons. It could bring major reform — or a bureaucratic jumble.
By LANCE TAPLEY | February 06, 2008

Cash carousel

Many things changed this year on Beacon Hill, but not the power of the almighty dollar
Even though the dollar has taken an international whupping of late, there remains at least one place where the love of the greenback remains strong: Beacon Hill.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 30, 2008

Ring of fire

The deadbeat FBI fails to pay its phone bills and jeopardizes its wiretapping program
An ugly squabble between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the nation’s biggest phone companies has, in one nasty blow, recast the image of all the entities involved.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | January 23, 2008

Menino’s hit list

40 potential candidates for the 2009 election who could take on the mayor — if they have the courage.
At a recent political event, Boston mayor Thomas M. Menino asked Robert Crane, the former long-time state treasurer, how many years he had held that office.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | November 28, 2007

Clampdown at the Providence Police Department

Esserman imposes tougher standards, but some cops cite inconsistent discipline
At age 42, former Providence Police sergeant Steven Petrella has the look of a besieged man.
By TE-PING CHEN | October 31, 2007

Moldy justice

Archaic laws are often funny, but they’re no laughing matter
A California law prohibits a woman from driving while wearing a house coat.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE AND JAN WOLFE | October 12, 2007

P-town’s not-so-secret vice

Beating up gay guys appears to be all the rage , and police and the DA are part of the problem
Something went seriously awry in Provincetown this summer, where several attacks with possible homophobic overtones were ignored by, and in one case was committed by, the town’s own law-enforcement officials.
By EDITORIAL | October 03, 2007

Cambridge vs. Anthony Galluccio

Will Brattle Street torpedo him again?
Cambridge city councilor Anthony Galluccio is still working to fulfill the promise he showed 10 years ago.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | August 29, 2007

Screwing the youth

When the budget gets tight, young people become an easy target
Wole Akinbi was 16 when someone phoned to say his best friend had been shot.
By BRIAN C. JONES | August 20, 2007

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