Trials

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Paraphernalia paranoia: Allston head shops shut down

Who is responsible for the wave of "functional glass art" shop raids that has recently taken place throughout Allston?
Busted
By VALERIE VANDE PANNE | July 02, 2010

Trail of jeers

As summer officially kicks off this weekend, thousands upon thousands of people will be descending on our fair metropolis to get a glimpse of America's most history-drenched city.
Forget Paul Revere. This summer, treat yourself to a tour of Boston's worst in political corruption.
By LAWRENCE ''HUGGY'' BERGMAN | June 18, 2010

Charges against former UMass student to be dropped

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.
Justice Is Served Dept.
By JEREMY C. FOX | June 11, 2010

Fighting back

Thanks to a federal law that codifies discrimination against same-sex couples, more than 15,000 legally married couples (and an untold number of children) are being denied basic benefits, such as the right to file their taxes jointly, or Social Security
Two cases in federal court here in Massachusetts could help turn the national tide against DOMA
By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 04, 2010

Death penalty possible for Watland

Gary Watland, the brilliant and mentally ill convicted murderer whose 2006 scheme to have his wife smuggle a loaded handgun into the Maine State Prison in Warren was foiled when another prisoner tipped off officials, faces a possible death penalty if co
Prison Murder
By LANCE TAPLEY | May 28, 2010

Mirror, mirror

Virtually every year, like clockwork, a college-football player is arrested for getting blasted and then running around town vandalizing cars — a crime that almost always involves ripping multiple side mirrors off of multiple automobiles.
Smashing up cars in South Alabama; Plus, it's that frisky NFL draft time of year
By MATT TAIBBI | April 30, 2010

It takes an identity thief

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
How Karen Keester made off with $250,000 — and became one of Boston's most accomplished con artists
By JACLYN TROP | April 23, 2010

QB freak

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.
No charges for Roethlisberger, but Big Ben’s reputation might be sacked
By MATT TAIBBI | April 23, 2010

UMass racial-confrontation case may finally come to a close

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 Northwester
Is justice being served?
By JEREMY C. FOX | April 02, 2010

The US Supreme Court has saved us from financial ruin

There has been powerful criticism of the recent US Supreme Court ruling that corporations are truly people, and deserve all the rights people have, including the right to spend as much as they wish to support or oppose candidates in elections.
Not a modest proposal
By JEFF INGLIS | February 12, 2010

Front Room battle goes to court

Next time you're at the Front Room, order that Old Fashioned with extra bitters. There's enough to go around.
Food Fight
By DEIRDRE FULTON | January 15, 2010

Unmaking a bad federal law

It's been a depressing stretch for supporters of marriage equality.
Justice for Some
By ADAM REILLY | November 27, 2009

Collateral damage?

Was Hasan suffering from PTSD?
Was Hasan suffering from PTSD?
By ADAM REILLY | November 13, 2009

Suspect speaks; victim’s family begins $1-million-plus lawsuit

The widow of Sheldon Weinstein, the Maine State Prison inmate who died in April several days after allegedly being beaten by inmates, has taken the first step toward filing a wrongful-death lawsuit against prison guards, Department of Corrections “policy
Prison Homicide
By LANCE TAPLEY | November 06, 2009

You're all guilty!

Silverglate's thesis is as provocative as it is simple: justice has become sufficiently perverted in this nation that federal prosecutors, if they put their minds to it, could find a way to indict almost any one of us for almost anything. It is a truly r
In his new book, Three Felonies a Day , Harvey Silverglate dissects the corrupt justice practiced by federal prosecutors
By PETER KADZIS | September 25, 2009

What's the scam?

Back on the morning of June 7, 1982, a man walked into the New York branch of the Middle East Bank on the 25th floor of a Madison Avenue office building and tried to deposit a $2 million check. The man, a native of the United Arab Emirates, left without
Trying to bilk the Scientologists
By JIM SCHUH | September 25, 2009

Prison ‘troublemaker’ confronts racism, medical abuse

Vacillating between grit and despair — between aggressive lawsuits and suicide attempts — Deane Brown, the prisoner who in 2005 blew the whistle on the torture of mentally ill inmates at the Maine State Prison’s solitary-confinement “Supermax” unit, is s
Exiled
By LANCE TAPLEY | September 11, 2009

Labor of Love

Most of us will sleep in on Labor Day. Not the Southern Maine Labor Council, who will be working hard to remind us what the holiday's actually all about.
No rest for these union activists
By JEFF INGLIS | September 04, 2009

Labor of Love

The punch that took two lives

What started out as a lazy late-summer school day for Joe Donovan and Yngve Raustein ended in the murder of the latter. Below, we trace Donovan's steps, from the point he first hooked up with the duo who would end up his cohorts in crime to the spot wh
Nearly 17 years ago, Joe Donovan initiated a tragic chain of events with a brutish act of machismo. But should he be in jail for life?
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 07, 2009

Federal investigation requested

Stirred into action by the murder of a wheelchair-bound prisoner, human-rights activists have asked the federal Department of Justice to investigate the treatment of Maine State Prison inmates.
More prison turmoil
By LANCE TAPLEY | July 24, 2009

Review: One Day You'll Understand

In 1987, as French television broadcasts the trial of Klaus Barbie, the Nazi "Butcher of Lyon," Victor Bastien is going through a related trial of his own.
Clumsy contrivance gives way to real tragedy
By PETER KEOUGH | July 24, 2009

Boston's $10 Million Boo-Boos

The bill continues to come due for the string of nine wrongful convictions discovered in Boston between 1999 and 2004 — a tab that has now topped $10 million in court settlements.
Righting a wrongful conviction
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | July 03, 2009

Scammer solstice

It's summertime, and the scammin' is easy. What else can explain the recent appearance of a former NFL player in court to face 22 counts of . . . wait for it . . . mortgage fraud!
Football meets fraud in Georgia. Plus, Wazzu wackiness, and Tim Donaghy gets busted up.
By MATT TAIBBI | June 19, 2009

Supreme court

Next month, Congress will begin confirmation hearings to decide the fate of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the 55-year-old Bronx native whom President Barack Obama nominated last month to fill retiring Justice David Souter's spot on the nine-memb
Maine senators playing major role in Sotomayor confirmation
By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 19, 2009

White-supremacist code printed nationwide

While von Brunn survived to face federal criminal charges and may yet die slowly in federal prison, he did manage to get newspapers around the globe to print a white-supremacist code praising Adolf Hitler right next to his name.
Co-Opting the Media
By JEFF INGLIS | June 19, 2009

Sotomayor's mixed message on free speech

Minutes after President Barack Obama announced that he was nominating appellate judge Sonia Sotomayor for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court, battle lines were drawn on the pre-scripted questions of "post-racial" America.
Freedom Watch
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | June 05, 2009

On Sotomayor

There is a pleasing symmetry to President Obama's nomination of federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court.
A noble pick that highlights a political flash point. Plus, California's shame.
By EDITORIAL | May 29, 2009

Judgment day

Interesting premise. The Last Days of Judas Iscariot , by Stephen Adly Guirgis, suggests what could happen if Judas, the most despised of the New Testament villains, were put on trial in purgatory.
Taking stock of Judas Iscariot
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | May 22, 2009

Review: Crude

Joe Berlinger returns with a documentary that follows through on the promise of 1992's Brother's Keeper .
Quietly compelling
By BRET MICHEL | April 15, 2009

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