Boston Phoenix | Harvey Silverglate

The Gates Case Isn't About Racenew

The weeks-long hubbub over the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. by the Cambridge Police Department has centered on race, understandably. But the racial façade of the story has obscured two other bottom-line truths that should govern the "Gates-gate" conversation.

Boston Phoenix | Harvey Silverglate | 08-06-2009 | Civil Liberties

Tags: Cambridge Police Department, constitutional law, First Amendment Rights, Racial Issues, Social Issues, law, police, Harvard, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The RIAA vs. Free Speechnew

The US recording industry is attempting to block the free public Webcast of its courtroom proceedings against Joel Tenenbaum, a Boston University grad student accused of illegally downloading music,

Boston Phoenix | Kyle Smeallie and Harvey Silverglate | 02-05-2009 | Civil Liberties

Tags: civil liberties, Joel Tenenbaum, Recording Industry Association of America

Harvard Law Celebrates 25 Years Out of the Closetnew

From its early struggle for recognition to its current membership of more than 4800 alumni, the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus has come a long way.

Boston Phoenix | Harvey Silverglate | 10-02-2008 | LGBT

Tags: Harvard University, gay & lesbian issues, Harvard Law School, Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus

Are US Universities Selling Out to Oil Nations?new

The well-born-and-bred children of well-heeled oil billionaires no longer have to wander far from the royal palace to do some learning -- they can get an American degree right at home and big-name schools open campuses by the Persian Gulf.

Boston Phoenix | Harvey Silverglate | 09-25-2008 | Education

Tags: higher education, United Arab Emirates, Harvard University, Boston University, Boston College, New York University, Northwestern University, Saudi Arabia

Judge Ungags Subway Hackersnew

Free speech has won in the struggle between the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority and three MIT undergrads who claim to have uncovered flaws in the subway's electronic fare-collection system.

Boston Phoenix | Harvey Silverglate | 08-21-2008 | Civil Liberties

Tags: Ku Klux Klan, ACLU, transportation, Electronic Frontier Foundation, civil liberties, Charlie Cards, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MBTA

Political Humor is No Longer Welcome in Academianew

For close to two decades, academia has been in the grips of a political-correctness fury that has strangled the sense of humor that was once the campus's best-known calling card. So if you're wondering why Barack Obama had such a surprisingly negative reaction to that New Yorker cover, consider the Harvard Factor.

Boston Phoenix | Harvey Silverglate | 07-31-2008 | Civil Liberties

Tags: Barack Obama, civil liberties, parody, academia, higher education, New Yorker, Harvard, political humor, illustration

The 2008 Muzzles: Collegiate Divisionnew

In reality, college campuses are home to some of the most outrageous cases of censorship.

Boston Phoenix | Harvey Silverglate | 06-26-2008 | Civil Liberties

Tags: civil liberties

Is Being Naked in the Public Square a Crime?new

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. The next act of this absurd political-theater production will return to Cambridge District Court this Friday, at considerable expense to taxpayers.

Boston Phoenix | Harvey Silverglate and James F. Tierney | 06-26-2008 | Civil Liberties

Tags: civil liberties, nudity, Gerald Leone, Harvard Square, Ria Ora

Score: Constitution 5, Gulags 4new

The supreme court's recent decision not only restored habeas-corpus rights to enemy combatants, but gave all of us one our most important civil-liberty victories to date.

Boston Phoenix | Harvey Silverglate | 06-19-2008 | Civil Liberties

Tags: Bush administration, Guantanamo, War on terror, detainees, civil liberties, Supreme Court, habeas corpus, enemy combatants

Harvard's Cops Have a Political Intelligence Unitnew

The Harvard University Police have a long record of abusing students' rights. I suspect this intelligence unit, which I also noticed photographing protesters at a campus anti-war demonstration in March, is not a recent addition.

Boston Phoenix | Harvey Silverglate | 04-17-2008 | Civil Liberties

Tags: civil liberties