Harvard Law School

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Dan Gillmor on how to make the media serve us

With the publication of his 2004 book "We the Media," Dan Gillmor established himself as one of the most important thinkers in digital journalism. Because...
By Dan Kennedy | January 21, 2011

Grilling sessions

P+J have just finished watching the second day of the televised Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.
The senator is a supreme putz; General discontent; in praise of Byrd
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | July 02, 2010

2010 Muzzle Awards on campus

Harvard and Yale universities felt the sting of the global economic collapse firsthand in 2009, as the endowments of these stalwart New England Ivy League members dropped by nearly a third. The schools didn’t fare much better in the free marketplace of
Harvard and Yale once again lead the way . . . for academic censorship
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | July 02, 2010

The 13th Annual Muzzle Awards

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.
A look at the dishonorable enemies of free speech and personal liberty in New England
By DAN KENNEDY | July 02, 2010

Walk for AIDS: 25 years(1)

Starting at 7:30 this Sunday morning, tens of thousands of walkers, runners, and volunteers will begin gathering by the Hatch Shell on the Boston side of the Charles River Esplanade.
Join in this Sunday. Despite significant progress, many challenges remain.
By EDITORIAL | June 04, 2010

Considering Kagan

Elena Kagan, onetime dean of Harvard Law School and current US solicitor general, is a less than perfect candidate to sit on the Supreme Court.
She’s weak on free speech, but doesn’t deserve her ‘Seinfeld moment’
By EDITORIAL | May 14, 2010

Elena Kagan’s shaky record

As a potential Obama nominee for Supreme Court justice, Elena Kagan has liberal bona fides and the likely support of the right. But if her record is any indication, she’s more likely to side with the conservative bloc on matters of executive power and wa
What a Kagan appointment to the Supreme Court could mean for civil liberties
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE AND KYLE SMEALLIE | April 23, 2010

Fighting foreclosure, one home at a time

When curious-looking animated silhouettes appear in the windows of foreclosed Dorchester residences — as they did this past month during a massive demonstration on Bullard Street, and will again soon in locations to be announced — it means that John Huls
Shadow cinema
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 09, 2010

Critical Mass

If free speech is what gives value to the campus "marketplace of ideas," UMass Amherst would long ago have gone bankrupt.
Over the years, UMass Amherst has proven to be a reliable hotbed for political hypocrisy and squelching of free speech
By KYLE SMEALLIE AND HARVEY SILVERGLATE | November 20, 2009

Holy terror?

On the afternoon of November 5, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan walked into a building at Fort Hood, the sprawling military base in central Texas; sat briefly in solitary silence; and then opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol, shooting roughly a hundred
Cutting through the muddled thinking about Nidal Malik Hasan's faith and its role in the Fort Hood shootings
By ADAM REILLY | November 13, 2009

Free speech again quashed at Harvard

It should come as no surprise to readers of “Freedom Watch” that yet another instance of political, intellectual, and academic censorship has sprung up at Harvard, the self-touted pinnacle of higher education.
RSVPeeved Dept.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | October 23, 2009

Khazei, Like a Fox?

If there is to be a candidate in the Massachusetts US Senate race who inspires the sort of grassroots, progressive following that propelled Governor Deval Patrick into office three years ago — an insurgent candidacy, if you will — it figures to be ideali
Insiders don’t think Alan Khazei has a chance in the US Senate race. But progressive activists could make him an underdog with bite.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | October 16, 2009

Six for the seat

Over the next few months, as candidates for the US Senate travel the state, you're likely to hear them say again and again that nobody can ever truly replace Ted Kennedy. That's the truth. But what does the state want next, after such a legendary, la
After a tumultuous week, these half dozen are still in the mix for Kennedy's seat.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | September 18, 2009

Tormenting Teddy

After 32 years in the US Senate, Ted Kennedy remains a force to be reckoned with, both for his legendary family history and his considerable accomplishments.
Republicans threaten Kennedy reign
By BOSTON PHOENIX STAFF | August 28, 2009

Who's next?

If Melvin B. Miller has his way, last week's shutdown of the Bay State Banner — the African-American-focused weekly paper Miller ran as editor and publisher for nearly half a century — won't be the end.
What the Banner 's closure means for Boston's African-Americans
By ADAM REILLY | July 17, 2009

Robojudge

Judge Stephen Breyer, Bill Clinton's latest pick for the Supreme Court, has attracted support so broad that it spans ideological and political differences.
Stephen Breyer may be the right man at the wrong time
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | June 05, 2009

Nervous, stressed, and depressed, LLC

Twenty-seven-year-old Jesse White is a temporary staff attorney at a domestic-violence nonprofit in the South End.
What's a recent law grad expected to do in this economy?
By KARA BASKIN | May 01, 2009

Cracking up

Republicans all over the country find themselves backed into an ideological and political corner: their dogma has brought the country, and their party, to ruin.
State legislators across the country are filing resolutions declaring state sovereignty just as they did the last time a Democrat won the White House
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 18, 2009

Crimson tied

Barack Obama's presidential campaign was successful in part because he was able to cleverly negotiate and navigate the battles that have plagued the United States the last few years.
A new battle threatens to disrupt the American political landscape, and it's hardly academic
By STEVEN STARK | March 11, 2009

The recording industry vs. free speech

Download of Nonsense
This past week, US District Judge Nancy Gertner granted the industry's request to postpone the trial, originally scheduled to begin January 22, until February 24.
By KYLE SMEALLIE AND HARVEY SILVERGLATE | February 04, 2009

Revenge of the nerds

Barack Obama's new administration has been characterized many ways — as a return to liberalism, a Chicago Mafia, and the harbinger of a new age.
For the first time since JFK, 'the best and the brightest' are back in the White House. Will Ivy-League intellect be enough to set the country straight?
By STEVEN STARK | January 21, 2009

Inauguration Day Round-up

Most people round these parts will be celebrating President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20. But, even those rare local GOPs who are mourning the loss of a Republican administration will be looking for a good time.
Salute
By SARA FAITH ALTERMAN | January 15, 2009

Rough justice

Except that it's a black farce, not a tragedy, you could call The Lieutenant of Inishmore Martin McDonagh's Titus Andronicus .
The Lieutenant of Inishmore; How Many Miles to Basra?; Legally Blonde the Musical
By CAROLYN CLAY | November 04, 2008

RI ’08: Prelude to 2010

During a national election season in which “change” remains the dominant motif, Rhode Island politics is locked in a holding pattern marked by a Democratic stranglehold on state and federal offices.
In a national year of change, stasis is likely to prevail at the General Assembly
By IAN DONNIS | October 29, 2008

Battling Scientology

In a world wracked with uncertainty, there is at least one thing you can bet on: pick a fight with the Church of Scientology, and its leaders will fight back — always with vigor, often with a vengeance, and sometimes with litigation that can be long and
Anonymous's Gregg Housh is committed to bringing down the Church of Scientology. Is he a gadfly or a goon?
By CHRIS FARAONE | October 15, 2008

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