AltWeeklies Wire
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
A Field Guide to Chinese Oppressionnew
Though Beijing's enemies are way too numerous to list, consider the following four non-Tibetan religious, ethnic, and intellectual minorities a sort of Olympic qualifying heat. In order to advance Beijing's "Harmonious Society" in preparation for the 2008 Games, members of these groups have been locked up, exiled, or have disappeared altogether. Enjoy the synchronized swimming!
Boston Phoenix |
Adam Matthews |
08-07-2008 |
International
Tags: China, Olympics, Tibet, journalism, civil liberties, international, Falun Gong, Uighurs, Mongolians
Pasties in Public? Not in Colorado Springsnew
Turns out the city's public indecency ordinance prohibits exposure of the "genitals or buttocks of either sex or the breast or breasts of a female." Lt. David Whitlock, a police department spokesman, says officers twice asked the women to either put on shirts or leave the park. "That is a proper interpretation [of the law]," he says. "The only statutory defense is breast-feeding."
Colorado Springs Independent |
Anthony Lane |
08-01-2008 |
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
Federal Raid on Iranian Charity Stokes Debate About Tightened Bush Sanctionsnew
Two weeks after federal agents raided the largest Iranian charity in Oregon, employees at Child Foundation have regained possession of their seized cell phones and fax machines. But the feds are still holding the charity's computers and remaining silent about the reasons behind a raid that's alarmed many Iranians.
Willamette Week |
James Pitkin |
07-31-2008 |
Civil Liberties
Trying Out a 'Sonic Cannon'new
Watch out for police agencies in your area seeking to buy LRADs -- long range acoustic devices. They're not nearly as benign as cops make them out to be.
Portland Phoenix |
Jeff Inglis |
07-17-2008 |
Civil Liberties
Remembering Rev. Louis Colemannew
"I can't think of a time I didn't know Louis Coleman," says Raoul Cunningham, president of the Louisville NAACP. The pair grew up together and while Cunningham says he participated in Louisville's sit-in movement as a teenager in the 1960s, Coleman didn’t join the civil rights movement until later in life.
LEO Weekly |
Phillip M. Bailey |
07-14-2008 |
Civil Liberties
Pride & patriotismnew
The fight for the right to serve
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Scott Freeman |
07-03-2008 |
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
Why is Homeland Security Watching Eugene's Activists?new
The Department of Homeland Security's monitoring of a peaceful anti-pesticide group led to the arrest and violent Tasering of a 19-year-old university student by local police.
Eugene Weekly |
Camilla Mortensen |
06-26-2008 |
Civil Liberties
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
The 2008 Phoenix Muzzle Awardsnew
Freedom of expression may be guaranteed by the Constitution, but it's an idea we have to fight for every day. We round up the past year's most conspicuous enemies.
Boston Phoenix |
Dan Kennedy |
06-26-2008 |
Civil Liberties
Is Anybody Paying Attention to McClatchy's Powerful Guantanamo Expose?new
With this past week's publication of a series on the Kafka-esque detention of thousands of foreign nationals following 9/11, the hybrid McClatchy–Knight Ridder DC operation is enjoying its biggest achievement to date.
Boston Phoenix |
Adam Reilly |
06-26-2008 |
Media
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
