Results tagged “deathpenalty”

New Hampshire has issued its first death sentence in 50 years, to a man who shot a cop two years ago. Michael Addison, now 28, shot Manchester police officer Michael Briggs in the head after the officer ordered him and a friend to stop. Addison was a suspect in two armed robberies and a shooting at the time. Defense and prosecution argued over whether the shooting was reckless and sudden, or planned and intentional. Prosecution also argued that, since Addison was already sentenced to decades in prison for other crimes, not choosing the death penalty would have made it look like Addison received no reprimand for shooting Briggs. New Hampshire has not executed an inmate since 1939 (a 1959 death sentence was later overtuned by the Supreme Court). For "fun," check out this death penalty information by state, and see how fast the numbers rise as you go south.

Bostonist understands that actual, real-life news outlets like newspapers necessarily move more slowly than lithe, web-based outfits like our own, especially since we're so light on reporting and heavy on snark analysis. But could whoever is in charge of the Herald's website make even a little bit of an effort to pull the outdated Entwistle stories as more facts become available?

When you live in a Commonwealth headed by an anomalously conservative governor with an eye both eyes firmly fixed on the White House, and an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature that pretty much runs the show, a lot of the headlines are, to say the least, predictable. Case in point, the House of Representatives yesterday gave a mighty "No, thank you" to Romney's much-touted proposal to bring the death penalty back to Massachusetts, voting it down 100...

A couple days ago, Bostonist's fearless editor sent us an e-mail, as he sometimes does, suggesting a possible post: "Is the morning-after pill something you want a stab at? I think it's worth coverage and if you don't want it I'll take a crack at it." True, we thought, it is frequently in the headlines, and our special job here is to write snide political and legal commentary. But what do we say about the...

Poor Connecticut, such a lonely state, unable to settle firmly into the orbit of either of its more influential neighbors. Yankees or Red Sox? Moderate Republican governor or not-so-moderate Republican governor? Death penalty (on the books, anyway) or no death penalty? Well, chalk one up for the Commonwealth: Connecticut has followed the path of Massachusetts and approved civil unions for gay couples (OK, so we call it marriage, but here's a little secret that Bostonist will let you in on: it's practically the same thing). Perhaps eager to one-up us, Connecticut actually legalized gay civil unions without recourse to a lengthy court battle, much to the chagrin of those who say that such blasphemy could only be the product of dangerous, satanic judges. Strangely, though, this gave a gay state senator from Stamford the chance to take a cheap shot at us and our beloved Supreme Judicial Court: Senator Andrew McDonald said other states would follow Connecticut's lead "for the right reasons, not because judges are telling them to." Talk about biting the hand that feeds you! Bostonist congratulates Connecticut on this bold step, but must remind them that if other states are following in anyone's footsteps, they are following in OUR FOOTSTEPS.

Bostonist went over to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End yesterday to pay respects to Pope John Paul II at a mass offered in his honor at 4 p.m. It was only appropriate that we went, Bostonist felt bad when we missed out on the Easter services because we were too busy nursing 12 cavities after taking Gothamist’s advice on what to do with your candy. We liked Pope John Paul...

The MFA brings you the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival this week. Starting with the opening of Born into Brothels on Thursday there will be a number of films from the traveling series screened at Coolidge Corner and the Museum of Fine Arts. In the spirit of the MFA they’ll cost a little bit more than a movie anywhere else, but Bostonist promises that you’ll get more out of any of the films in this series than you will from Elecktra.