AltWeeklies Wire
Sheriff's Detention Officers Unnecessarily Terrorized a Psychotic Inmatenew
Eric Vogel was a seriously mentally ill Phoenix man who died (of a heart attack, officially) in December 2001, a week after a violent incident with the jailers at the now-closed Madison Street Jail. The civil case was filed by Vogel's survivors.
Phoenix New Times |
Paul Rubin |
02-16-2010 |
Civil Liberties
Eight Relentless Watchdogs Who Hound Public Officials in Pursuit of Answersnew
On good days they’re known as citizen watchdogs. On bad days, they’re civic-minded pains in the neck. If you’ve been to a public meeting in process-happy Portland, you know the type. They’re the activists who testify time after time at City Council - and elsewhere.
Willamette Week |
Beth Slovic |
02-03-2010 |
Civil Liberties
Will This Nondiscrimination Bill Transition to a Law?new
Hundreds of transgender Massachusetts residents gathered recently to lobby (yet again) for the right to stand under the state's hate crime and nondiscrimination umbrella. Currently, a range of person-flavors are covered — including race, religion, age, nationality and others — but not transgender identity.
Dig Boston |
Maya Phillips |
01-27-2010 |
Civil Liberties
UCSB Scholar Advocates Humane Treatment of Detained Immigrantsnew
Professor Manuel Casas traveled from UCSB to Washington in early November to speak on behalf of illegal immigrants. At a Congressional hearing, he supported two bills in the House of Representatives that promoted what Casas refers to as “common sense.”
Santa Barbara Independent |
Rebecca Bachman |
12-22-2009 |
Civil Liberties
O'Brien's Song: Now, the Activist Must Fight for His Lifenew
For Tim O'Brien, grad school, and life in general, are full-contact sports, and heaven protect anyone who gets in the way of his idea of justice.
Houston Press |
John Nova Lomax |
12-15-2009 |
Civil Liberties
Illinois Judge Says Autistic Child Can Bring Service Dog to Schoolnew
An Illinois judge decided last week that Kaleb Drew, a 6-year-old with autism, can bring his service dog Chewey to school. The Drew family and their local school district have battled over the issue in court since July. It's the first time the issue has been tested in court in the state.
Illinois Times |
Amanda Robert |
11-20-2009 |
Civil Liberties
Feds Bust Twitterer, Impound Fuzzy Dolls and Buffy Videos in War on Terrornew
Elliot Madison's real crime, it seems, is being a self-proclaimed anarchist, which is no more illegal than being a self-proclaimed Democrat or Lutheran. His tweets were not more informative or subversive than MSNBC's live coverage of the G-20 protests.
Artvoice |
Michael I. Niman |
10-16-2009 |
Civil Liberties
An Inside Look at the G20 Summit and the Police State That Surrounded Itnew
The phrase "lockdown" doesn't quite get to the core of how militarized and contained Pittsburgh really was throughout the two-day G20 Sept. 24 and 25.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Matt Stroud |
10-06-2009 |
Civil Liberties
G-20 Dispatch: Never Mind Civil Liberties -- Did Police Squander a PR Opportunity?new
Going into the G-20, there was a lot of concern that anarchists might ruin a once-in-a-lifetime photo op. It didn't turn out that way. But it's still possible the police might smudge the city's G-20 halo.
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Chris Potter |
09-29-2009 |
Civil Liberties
Following Raid on Gay Bar, the Atlanta PD Reels from Harrassment Complaintsnew
Why did police feel they needed to take down the club with the kind of force usually reserved for busting meth labs? Why did officers seem to act so unprofessionally toward the Eagle's customers, none of whom was arrested? And was the whole thing really just about sex?
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Scott Henry |
09-22-2009 |
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
Nancy Hollander Defends Guantanamo Prisoners ... and Our Justice Systemnew
The Albuquerque lawyer is one of the nation's leading criminal defense attorneys, but she now faces perhaps her greatest legal challenge yet: Representing two prisoners incarcerated at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
Weekly Alibi |
Simon McCormack |
08-11-2009 |
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
Big Brother is Watching You With RFID Microchipsnew
Consumer-privacy advocate Katherine Albrecht advises people to resist RFID. "There are certainly things you can do with RFID that might be cool, but the costs of introducing this technology into our society so vastly outweigh the benefits, the technology shouldn’t be deployed at all," she says.
The Georgia Straight |
Erin Millar |
07-27-2009 |
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
