After major 1st Amendment ruling protecting citizens’ right to record arrests, Boston police settle lawsuit

Simon Glik was prosecuted for recording video of an arrest in a public place; a U.S. appeals court ruled the First Amendment protected his right to do so.

The city of Boston will pay $170,000 to settle a lawsuit that forced a landmark ruling on a citizen’s First Amendment right to record the activities of police officers in public. The settlement, announced today by the ACLU of Massachusetts, ends a case that produced a significant victory for those who believe citizens – and journalists – should have the right to record police activity in public places.

In October 2007, Glik he said he saw police officers arresting a teenager in the most public of places – the Boston Common – and pulled out his cellphone to start recording video. Within minutes, he was under arrest for illegal electronic surveillance under Massachusetts’ wiretapping statute.

http://tinyurl.com/84y24e9

Occupy Wall Street Goes to School

For all their irreverence, the protesters are becoming serious about their tactics. Over the next few weeks, demonstrators will take part in hundreds of training sessions in all 50 states. This weekend in New York, activists learned how to form human walls, surround each other in tightly locked circles, and scatter to pose as normal civilians, a technique that enables them to get around police lines before regrouping. Classes in New York will continue every Friday and culminate in a major protest on May 1.

http://tinyurl.com/cp6oewp

Occupy Spring

Almost from the moment Occupy Wall Street protesters were evicted from their camp in Zuccotti Park last November, observers have speculated whether the movement was finished, or if it would somehow rebound in the spring.
Dedicated Occupy activists dismissed the possibility that the movement had already run its course and promised an “American Spring,” kicking off a new season of activism with May Day events coordinated across the country.

As it turns out, spring came early.

http://tinyurl.com/cz2zywn

Who Rides the T? Justice in Transit According to the Demographics of the MBTA

According to the 2008 Ridership Survey, 25 percent of MBTA riders do not have access to a vehicle. Indeed, many area residents are not paid enough to afford a vehicle, and are barely scraping by. The Federal Poverty Level is defined as $10,380, but according to the Massachusetts Economic Independence Index 2010, a resident of Boston needs to make $28,717 annually just to make ends meet. The living wage number jumps to $45,931 for a household with one adult and one school-age child. Yet, according to the 2008 Ridership Survey, nearly 40 percent of MBTA riders have a household income less than $40,000, and 17 percent have a household income less than $20,000.

http://tinyurl.com/bqt25u3

Rightwing websites, bloggers, pundits and Fox News launch smear campaign against murdered black teen in Florida

Over the last 48 hours, there has been a sustained effort to smear Trayvon Martin, the 17-year old African-American who was shot dead by George Zimmerman a month ago. Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, said, “They killed my son, now they’re trying to kill his reputation.”

Thus far these attacks have fallen into two categories: false and irrelevant. Much of this leaked information seems intended to play into stereotypes about young African-American males. Here’s what everyone should know:

http://tinyurl.com/cr4es5g

Cash mobs tackle the issue of struggling local economies

cash mobs are a buy-local movement that combines social networking, small business and shopping. Most cash-mob organizers have a lot of Twitter followers and Facebook friends and set a time and place for people to meet and spend money.

For example, a group called Occupy Riverwest organized a cash mob in December at Fischberger’s Variety, 2445 N. Holton St. Dozens of people showed up at the same time and shopped, many buying holiday gifts. Owner Sarah Ditzenberger says the group spent about $1,200, which is twice what they would make on an average day.

Occupy Riverwest organized three more cash mobs in December. The second, called “Cafe Day,” was at Cafe Corazon, 3129 N. Bremen St., Riverwest Co-op Grocery and Cafe, 733 E. Clarke St., and Cafe Centro, 808 E. Center St.

http://tinyurl.com/d5vyzsa