ACLU

Boston to pay $170,000 to lawyer arrested for videoing arrest on the Common

adamg — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:41:30 +0000

The city has agreed to pay Simon Glik $170,000 in damages and legal fees over the way he was arrested in 2007 while using a cell phone to record police making an arrest on Boston Common, the ACLU of Massachusetts reports.

News of the settlement of Glik's federal lawsuit comes several months after a federal appeals court ruled the officers involved could not claim immunity for doing their job because the public has the right to record police officers in public settings.

Judge issues order in Occupy Boston Twitter investigation but seals it for 10 days

adamg — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 05:08:07 +0000

Whatever it is Suffolk Superior Court Judge Carol Ball ruled is on a subpoena issued by the Suffolk County District Attorney's office to Twitter for information about certain tweets related to Occupy Boston and possibly to the release of information about Boston police officers.

One of the Twitter users whose handle is referenced in the subpoena is seeking to quash it; he posted a copy after California-based Twitter notified him. Ball stayed her order to let both the ACLU of Massachusetts, which is representing him, and the DA's office to appeal her ruling.

ACLU: Police have some explaining to do

adamg — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:42:28 +0000

The ACLU of Massachusetts says it's looking into how people were arrested and processed following the "heavy handed" Greenway crackdown on Tuesday.

Boston officials have so far given conflicting and inconsistent explanations for the crackdown on Occupy Boston at the Rose Kennedy Greenway on Oct. 11. They cited public safety issues, even though the demonstrators remained peaceful; rules and permitting technicalities, even though these appear not to be enforced for others; and concern for the welfare of the Greenway's lawn and shrubs, even though the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy apparently did not ask for the police to remove demonstrators. In an interview with WBUR, Mayor Menino claimed that "civil disobedience doesn't work for Boston," ignoring the historical relevance of the practice to the City's "Freedom Trail."

In August, the ACLU sued Boston Police over its monitoring of local political groups.

ACLU sues Boston Police over videos at protests

adamg — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:23:46 +0000

The group wants to know what BPD has been doing with video its shot at protests; filed suit in Suffolk Superior Court, along with several other groups and two people arrested at a "die-in" outside the Israeli consulate in 2009. The suit says BPD should turn over records of its surveillance efforts under the state Public Records Law.

H&R Block issues coupons to some couples

shane_curcuru@drupal.org — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:56:22 +0000

You don't see that everyday! Tax filers who are in civil unions (or domestic or same-sex partnerships) were prevented from using TaxCut software, and had to go in person to an H&R Block office to get taxes filed. The ACLU complained, and the big green tax folks listened.

Taking pictures on the T

adamg — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 02:05:18 +0000

The ACLU threatens to sue the T over its photography policy - which basically says you can't - unless you've gotten a permit.

About time somebody stood up to the T bullies, who are more concerned about potentially embarassing photos exemplifying bad service than stopping potential terrorists, BadTransit writes:

... The T, or anyone else, has no right to confiscate your photographic equipment, film, memory card, etc., without a legal process. It's amazing that people aren't certain about this. ...

Bah, retorts Hub Politics, wondering when people will recognize the ACLU for the traitors they are:

... This threat by the ACLU is absolutely ridiculous, and is yet another example of how twisted the ACLU is. They want wiretapping of terrorists to stop, arguing it is a violation of privacy rights, and now, they are taking a position that arguably puts privacy (and security) at risk. Seems to me that the only constant objective they have is to undermine our security. ...