Law

Latest Articles

The problem with liberals' dislike of Rick Warren

Uncivil Liberties
The need to be consistent in the defense of the rights of all in our country — even those whose views we may find abhorrent.
By MARY ANN SORRENTINO | December 23, 2008

Advocates renew challenge to punitive probation practices

Violations
At the conclusion of its 2008 session, the General Assembly passed a bill that would have reformed state criminal justice procedure for probationers charged with new crimes.
By ARIEL WERNER | December 03, 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

Interview: Cleve Jones

Retro active
Harvey Milk's protege Cleve Jones on the movie, Obama, and Prop8.
By PETER KEOUGH | November 25, 2008

California’s shame

Equal marriage rights suffers a setback, but there is hope. Plus, young voters.
The politics of division as practiced by lame-duck president George W. Bush at the connivance of his onetime Svengali Karl Rove are not dead.
By EDITORIAL | November 24, 2008

Does not compute

Will our next president be a geek hero or a guy who doesn’t e-mail?
Though he’s infamous for his aversion to computers, McCain is actually no Luddite.
By MIKE MILIARD | October 30, 2008

Choosing my religion

Letters to the Boston editor, October 24, 2008
There’s nothing that strikes me as heroic or important about Gregg Housh’s farcical jihad against Scientology.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | October 22, 2008

A step forward

Why the Connecticut Supreme Court got it right. Plus, ominous noises from the right wing.
The nation’s understandable preoccupation with the unfolding economic crisis has overshadowed a significant victory in the battle for same-sex marriage: the Connecticut Supreme Court, on October 10, ruled that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.
By EDITORIAL | October 22, 2008

Back to the barricades

Can reenacting Vietnam-era protests help us rethink Iraq?
In the fall of 2005, when the artist and curator Mark Tribe began teaching at Brown University, he was struck by how little protest there was on campus at a time of war.
By GREG COOK | October 22, 2008

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

Big Red

Brown offers a mirror-view of the 20th century
“Views and Re-Views: Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons” is one of the best exhibits you’ll see in New England this year.
By GREG COOK | September 17, 2008

I've heard that story before

Politics and other mistakes
Each year, Governor John Baldacci announces his top priority in the next legislative session will be reducing the state income tax. (“Lack of political clout? What lack of political clout?”)
By AL DIAMON | August 20, 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

Parody flunks out

Political humor is no longer welcome in Academia as administrators choke the life out of parody
Artist Barry Blitt’s brilliant illustration — which sought to satirize the naysayers who portray Obama as a flag-burning, unpatriotic Muslim and his wife as a black-power radical — cut to the core of today’s political paradox.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | July 30, 2008