Civil Liberties

Springfield, Mass. – A man who had a conviction for murder overturned in a retrial last year is suing two Springfield Police Department detectives for allegedly using coercion to produce witness testimony against him in court. 

Charles Wilhite was convicted in 2010 of murdering Alberto Rodriguez in a shooting in Springfield in 2008, spending over three years in prison before a jury found him not guilty during a retrial in January last year.

BOSTON/South Boston - Marking the first anniversary of the death of renowned internet activist Aaron Swartz, there were renewed calls in Boston for the resignation of US Attorney Carmen Ortiz and Assistant US Attorney Stephen Heymann.

A small group of independent activists, and Massachusetts Pirate Party members, demonstrated outside the US District Court in the city Monday, and delivered a letter to an Ortiz official stating their position.

BOSTON/Park Street - On Wednesday morning, Boston area supporters awaited the sentencing of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning with bated breath and low expectations. Their fears were realized when Judge Col. Denise Lind sentenced Manning, accused of the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history, to 35 years of federal prison. Prisoners sentenced for 30 years or longer in a military court are eligible for parole after serving 10 years—or, subtracting time Manning, 25, has already served, six and a half years. He was also dishonorably discharged and must forfeit his military salary.