December 15, 2020 GMT
BOSTON (AP) The highest court in Massachusetts on Tuesday struck down a state law making it illegal for people to ask for money for their own support on public roads.
A decision from the Supreme Judicial Court found that the law violated free speech rights because it prohibited people from requesting money for personal support on roadways but specifically allowed the sale of newspapers or event tickets.
The court concluded that asking motorists for personal donations “poses no greater threat to traffic safety than engaging in the same conduct for other” purposes that are permitted under the law.
Bristol sheriff violated immigration detaineesâ civil rights during May melee, attorney general says
By Laura Crimaldi Globe Staff,Updated December 15, 2020, 12:33 p.m.
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Bristol Sheriff Thomas Hodgson spoke to the media at the Bristol County Sheriff s correctional complex in Dartmouth on May 2.John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
Bristol Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgsonâs office illegally unleashed dogs on detainees, used excessive force, and violated the civil rights of 25
federal immigration detainees involved in a jailhouse melee in May, according to an investigation released Tuesday by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.
Healey said Hodgsonâs office showed âcallous disregardâ for the detaineesâ well-being. Her report does not recommend any criminal charges, but proposes the sheriff be barred altogether
Supreme Judicial Court rules law banning panhandling violates First Amendment rights of homeless people
By John R. Ellement Globe Staff,Updated December 15, 2020, 4:14 p.m.
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A panhandler along a stretch of Massachusetts Avenue in Boston in 2016.Keith Bedford/Globe Staff
The First Amendment rights of homeless people were violated by a state law that made it a crime to flag down passing motorists to ask for cash, the stateâs highest court ruled unanimously Tuesday.
The Supreme Judicial Court said the law, enacted in 1930, singled out and banned panhandling homeless people from public streets, while it exempted people from criminal charges if they were flagging down motorists to sell newspapers or roses.
Bristol County Sheriff’s Office illegally used dogs, excessive pepper spray against immigrant detainees who may have had COVID, Mass. AG reports
Updated Dec 15, 2020;
The Bristol County Sheriff’s Office violated the civil rights of federal immigration detainees, including unlawfully using dogs and excessive pepper spray on detainees potentially infected with COVID-19 in a May incident in the county jail that began nonviolently, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey alleged in an investigative report released Tuesday.
Healey’s office, which recommended sweeping training and oversight reforms at Bristol County facilities, found that BCSO personnel deliberately used excessive and disproportionate force after 10 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees refused to consent to COVID-19 testing and isolation on May 1. BCSO “acted with deliberate indifference to a significant risk of serious harm to the health of several detainees,” the report found.
After Fall River arrests, anti-panhandling law ruled unconstitutional by Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Updated Dec 15, 2020;
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision Tuesday deeming a state statute banning panhandling unconstitutional, ruling that homeless people can ask for donations on public roads just like anyone else.
In a 23-page decision authored by Justice Barbara Lenk, the SJC states the statute infringed upon the individuals’ First Amendment rights. Lenk called the law both overly broad and “underinclusive”, targeting protected speech while failing to target activities that could affect traffic safety.
“There can be little doubt that signaling to, stopping, or accosting motor vehicles for the purpose of soliciting donations on one’s own behalf poses no greater threat to traffic safety than engaging in the same conduct for other non-prohibited or exempted purposes, such as gathering signatures for a petition, flagging down a taxicab, s