While Beacon Hill legislators haven’t moved yet to address Gov. Charlie Baker’s amendments to policing reform legislation, other efforts to improve law enforcement accountability are moving forward locally and in the courts this week. Â Earlier this week, the First Circuit Court of Appeals said people can’t be prosecuted under the state’s 1968 wiretapping statute for […]
Technology
Posted inUncategorized
Ruling permits citizen recordings of police
WHILE BEACON HILL legislators haven’t moved yet to address Gov. Charlie Baker’s amendments to policing reform legislation, other efforts to improve law enforcement accountability are moving forward locally and in the courts this week. Â Earlier this week, the First Circuit Court of Appeals said people can’t be prosecuted under the state’s 1968 wiretapping statute for […]
Posted inUncategorized
Confusion over tax status stymies solar projectsÂ
AN OUTDATED LAW and a series of rulings by an obscure tax board are throwing the state’s landscape for solar projects into disarray. The question revolves around whether commercial solar projects should be exempt from paying municipal property taxes. The lack of clarity is threatening to take revenue away from municipal budgets – and stymie […]
Posted inUncategorized
Healey not saying why she didn’t join Apple lawsuit
ATTORNEY GENERAL Maura Healey is refusing to say why she never joined a large coalition of attorneys general who sued Apple and recently won a $113 million legal settlement, which probably would have netted the state millions of dollars. A Healey spokeswoman declined to provide any information on the attorney general’s reasoning. The settlement, in […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Politics
Right to repair ballot question passes, but implementation a concern
MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS on Tuesday voted to expand the state’s Right to Repair law and require car manufacturers to provide more information to independent repair shops. The passage of the ballot question raises questions about how the new law will be implemented on a tight time frame – whether the Legislature will step in and tweak […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Boston City Council bans use of facial recognition tech
THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL voted unanimously on Wednesday to prohibit the police department and other city agencies from using facial recognition technology or information derived from face surveillance systems. The ordinance also prohibits law enforcement and city employees from obtaining facial surveillance by asking for it through a third party. Boston now joins five other Massachusetts […]
Posted inEconomy
Markey owes a telecom fix
COVID-19 HAS HIGHLIGHTED deep divisions in this country, from who has access to health care to who can afford to stay at home to how we educate our children. At play in every single one of these, is America’s pervasive digital divide. That is, who has access to the technology needed to weather the consequences […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
What you need to know about new hands-free driving law
IT’S TIME TO stop reading those emails while traffic is crawling on the Southeast Expressway. Massachusetts’s ban on handheld cellphone use while driving goes into effect Sunday. Gov. Charlie Baker said at a press conference Thursday that the new law will save lives. “Distracted driving is a tremendous risk for the driver, for the passengers […]
Posted inThe Download
Many municipalities hit by cyber stick-ups
Dozens of Massachusetts municipalities have been targeted by ransomware attacks — cyberattacks on computer systems that are designed to extort money. A shocking investigation from NBC 10 Boston found that many municipalities have been attacked and at least 10 municipalities have ponied up the cash, all of it taxpayer money. Many of the payments have been […]
Posted inUncategorized
Many municipalities hit by cyber stick-ups
DOZENS OF MASSACHUSETTS MUNICIPALITIES have been targeted by ransomware attacks — cyberattacks on computer systems that are designed to extort money. A shocking investigation from NBC 10 Boston found that many municipalities have been attacked and at least 10 municipalities have ponied up the cash, all of it taxpayer money. Many of the payments have […]