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Category Archives: Civil Rights

Hampden Superior Court

In Court, Moss Attorney Highlights Broader Context to Save Free Speech Claim…

UPDATED 5/14/23 6:42: Judge Manitsas has ruled against Moss and in favor of Mayor Sarno. Full story here.

SPRINGFIELD—Lawyers for former mayoral aide Darryl Moss and Mayor Domenic Sarno squared off Tuesday over whether the former sufficiently pleaded a violation of his First Amendment rights. The hearing came some five months after the attorneys jousted over other claims, two of which a Hampden Superior Court judge ultimately dismissed.

Kristen Clarke Sarno

Briefings: Springfield & Feds Agree to Path Forward on Police…

Four years after the United States Department of Justice opened its investigation into the Springfield Police Department—the only such probe Donald Trump’s administration opened—the city and the federal government have come to an agreement on how to move forward.

Springfield Police

DOJ Report Torches Pearl Street on Excessive Force, Narcotics Bureau…

UPDATED 10:37AM: To include statements from the City Council. After a two-year investigation, officials from the Department of Justice have found a disquieting pattern excessive force, shoddy and false recordkeeping and crummy supervision in the Narcotics Bureau of the Springfield Police Department. The damning portrait

Whistle Stops: The 7th Hampden View on COVID & George Floyd…

Whistle Stops is an occasional series of shorter hits from the legislative campaign trail. by Michael Lachenmeyer Correspondent-Intern For the past four months, a pandemic has ravaged the country leaving more than 100,000 Americans dead and plunging the economy into depths unseen since the Great

Amid Protests, Sarno Proposes a Trinity of Action…or a 3-card Monte?…

UPDATED 4:32PM: To include reaction from AG Healey’s office. SPRINGFIELD—In an abrupt reversal, Mayor Domenic Sarno apologized for the reinstatement of five cops charged with lying to investigators looking into the 2015 fracas outside Nathan Bill’s Bar & Restaurant. In a late morning press conference

In Latest Floyd Protest, Springfield Leans toward the Local…

SPRINGFIELD—Amid the ever-growing national demonstrations following the death of George Floyd at police hands in Minneapolis, residents here again took to the streets to demand redress for systemic racism in law enforcement. Unlike this past Wednesday’s protest, however, this past Saturday protesters focused on issues