AltWeeklies Wire
The 14th Annual Muzzle Awardsnew
An annual look at the dishonorable enemies of free speech and personal liberty in New England.
Boston Phoenix |
Dan Kennedy |
06-30-2011 |
Civil Liberties
Beyond Espionagenew
Not long after WikiLeaks entered the international lexicon, the question became not whether the United States government would prosecute founder Julian Assange, but how?
Boston Phoenix |
Harvey Silverglate, Kyle Smeallie |
01-06-2011 |
Civil Liberties
Gay-Marriage Win; Progressive Agenda Loss?new
Gay-rights supporters won a huge victory on July 8, when a federal judge in Boston ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act -- the federal law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, thereby denying legally married same-sex couples important federal benefits -- was unconstitutional.
Boston Phoenix |
Deirdre Fulton |
07-15-2010 |
Civil Liberties
Courthouse Bomber to Speak About Social Changenew
After it was initially canceled, a controversial talk by a radical activist will go on at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Ray Luc Levasseur, who became a radical in part due to his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam, will talk on campus in connection with a symposium on "social change."
Boston Phoenix |
Rick Wormwood |
11-11-2009 |
Civil Liberties
New Hampshire Transplants Live Free -- or Die Tryingnew
They're digging up public squares. They're smoking pot and baring breasts. And they openly carry guns. New Hampshire residents are divided as to whether the Free State Project is a godsend or a nuisance.
Boston Phoenix |
Chris Faraone |
08-27-2009 |
Civil Liberties
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
The Twelfth Annual 'Boston Phoenix' Muzzle Awardsnew
Every year around our nation's birthday, the Boston Phoenix honors the dishonorable — those people and institutions who did the most to trample free speech in New England.
Boston Phoenix |
Dan Kennedy |
07-09-2009 |
Civil Liberties
Banning Bill Ayers at Boston Collegenew
How the Boston College administration changed their minds and bent the rules to keep the former activist off campus -- at the expense of academic freedom.
Boston Phoenix |
Kyle Smeallie |
04-23-2009 |
Civil Liberties
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
Judge Dismisses RNC Protest Casenew
After their arrests at 2008's Republican National Convention, a group of protestors known as the Wall 7, asked for a jury trial -- and got what they deserved.
Boston Phoenix |
Jeff Inglis |
02-05-2009 |
Civil Liberties
Boston Musician Freed After Three Months in Security Detentionnew
Percussionist Vicente Lebron intends to seek US citizenship -- now that he has discovered that the government is able and willing to ruin his life, at the drop of a hat, and for no discernible reason.
Boston Phoenix |
David S. Bernstein |
09-11-2008 |
Civil Liberties
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
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
Mass Gun Laws Now Target for Debatenew
Good news, Bostonians: you can own guns! The bad news: so can your weird neighbor.
Boston Phoenix |
Kim Liao |
07-03-2008 |
Civil Liberties
Tags: civil liberties
Taking a Shot at the Supreme Courtnew
This past week's Supreme Court ruling, invalidating Washington, DC's handgun ban, demonstrates just how far afield "movement conservatism" has taken our country.
Boston Phoenix |
Editorial |
07-03-2008 |
Civil Liberties
