Massachusetts
Massachusetts Considers Ban on Sale of Phone Location Data
Abortion and privacy activists join over concerns that cell phones track our movements.
Massachusetts' Wealth Tax Encouraged NBA's Grant Williams To Sign With Dallas
Grant Williams breaks down the math: "$54 million in Dallas is really like $58 million in Boston."
Massachusetts District Attorney Sued for Refusing To Release Names of Problem Cops
Massachusetts reformed its notoriously bad public records laws in 2020, but reporters are still fighting to get the police misconduct files they're legally entitled to.
'Cash Is Independence': Ron DeSantis Slams the Government's Plan for Centrally-Controlled Digital Money
"If you don't trust central authority, then you should see this immediately as something that is very problematic," says the Florida governor.
'Reprehensible and Plainly Unconstitutional': Child Welfare Agents Took Their Kids. Now They're Suing.
Even though a family pediatrician said she had "zero concerns," child welfare services still seized Josh Sabey's and Sarah Perkins' two young children. It took four months for the couple to regain custody.
States Try To Reform Prostitution Laws—for Better and Worse
New bills in six states showcase some right and wrong ways to help sex workers, from full decriminalization to ramping up penalties for prostitution customers.
Let Massholes Be Massholes, Says Bay State's High Court
Criticism of public officials doesn't have to be polite, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court confirmed.
Massachusetts' Tobacco Ban Went as Badly as You'd Expect
And now the state thinks it needs to crack down even more.
Massachusetts Voters Ended Rent Control Decades Ago. Boston's Mayor Wants To Bring It Back.
The city's old-school rent control scheme worsened housing quality but had no effect on housing supply. Mayor Michelle Wu's new rent control law will likely have the opposite effect.
They Fell Behind on Their Property Taxes. So the Government Sold Their Homes—and Kept the Profits.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear 94-year-old Geraldine Tyler's case challenging home equity theft.
Teachers Unions Spent $22 Million Backing Massachusetts 'Millionaire's Tax'
The constitutional amendment is an attempt to undermine the state's flat income tax system.
Driving Electric Cars Produces Little Carbon. Making the Batteries Produces a Lot.
Many politicians who want to ban gas-powered vehicles appear to misunderstand the science.
Don't Use Immigrants as Political Pawns
The best rebuke to the Biden administration's inhumane border policies is for Republican governors to welcome migrants into their states.
If Ron DeSantis Hates Communism, He Shouldn't Weaponize Victims of Communism
The governor flew dozens of Venezuelans to Martha's Vineyard at taxpayer expense, even though they fled a regime he says "is responsible for countless atrocities."
Libertarian Party Faces State Rebellions
The Libertarian Party's state affiliates in New Mexico and Virginia have broken away amid ideological and procedural turmoil—and the Virginia branch may have dissolved entirely.
A Psychiatric Facility Punishes Residents With Painful Electric Shocks. Now It's Trying To Sue Its Critics.
The Judge Rotenberg Center, which has been condemned by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, is suing a small nonprofit for defamation after they published a survey critical of the school's practices.
How a Massachusetts Power Plant Illustrates America's Fraught Shift to Green Energy
Brayton Point was a coal-fired plant that tried to clean up its act. Protesters and politicians demanded its closure. A new offshore wind project won't be sufficient to replace it.
President Biden Asserts 'Climate Change Is an Emergency'
But does not declare that it is a "national emergency."
Politicians Defy the Supreme Court's Ruling on the Right To Bear Arms
Several states are retaining subjective criteria for carry permits or imposing new restrictions on gun possession.
State Reactions to the SCOTUS Ruling Against Discretionary Carry-Permit Laws Range From Compliance to Defiance
Some states promptly eliminated subjective standards, while others refused to recognize the decision's implications.
Massachusetts Lawmakers Say They Want to Loosen Booze Rules. This Proposal Would Do the Opposite.
The fine print of the latest alcohol regulation proposal in Massachusetts is revealing.
He Heckled a District Attorney on TV. Now He Faces 10 Years Behind Bars.
On Wednesday, a Massachusetts judge will decide whether Joao DePina will face the possibility of a decade behind bars for publicly criticizing a district attorney.
Study: Jersey Girls' Refusal To Pump Gas Is Costing Everyone a Lot of Money
Research on the effects of Oregon's loosening of its self-service gas ban finds that allowing adults to pump their own gas increases supply and lowers prices.
With Just 10 Signatures, This Gas Station Owner Could Kill a Ban on Pumping Your Own Gas
Legislators in New Jersey and Oregon keep failing to repeal their states' bans on self-service gas stations. Is Massachusetts' small town direct democracy the solution?
The CDC Stands Firm on 'Universal Masking' in Schools as Blue States Abandon That Policy
Rochelle Walensky says "now is not the moment" to stop forcing masks on children. Democratic politicians increasingly disagree.
She Got Her Car Back 6 Years After Police Seized It
Malinda Harris’ ordeal shows how easily the government can take innocent people’s property under civil forfeiture laws.
Will Massachusetts Make Life Sweeter for Home-Cook Entrepreneurs?
It's oppressively hard, if not impossible, to sell homemade food in the Bay State. One lawmaker proposes massive regulatory reform.
Boston Officials Want to Know if You Think This Dilapidated Shack Is Historically Significant
The city's solicitation of public input on the demolition of shacks, sheds, and boarded up homes is an invitation for NIMBYism.
Plymouth County Keeps Puritanism Alive With Bogus Sex Trafficking Stings
Five men face "trafficking a person for sexual servitude" charges after meeting an undercover cop at a hotel.
A Massachusetts Commission Recommends Long-Overdue Reforms to the 'Worst Civil Forfeiture Laws in the Country'
The commission says the legislature should raise the standard of proof and remove the financial incentive that encourages cops and prosecutors to pursue profit instead of public safety.
Massachusetts Could Lift Its Decades-Old Happy Hour Ban
The ban hasn't prevented deadly drunk driving incidents, but it is hamstringing bars and restaurants hurt by COVID shutdowns.
Massachusetts Prison System Sued Over Unreliable Drug Tests That Put Inmates in Solitary
Defense lawyers say they were accused of smuggling drugs to clients based on tests so unreliable they're akin to "witchcraft, phrenology or simply picking a number out of a hat."
State Governments Are Creating Their Own Drug Cartels
Much of what government does is tax people to try to fix problems that government caused.
Supreme Court Won't Hear Case Challenging Massachusetts' Income Tax on Telecommuters Who Don't Live or Work in Massachusetts
The Court left increasingly urgent questions about taxing remote workers up in the air.
After the Cops Seized Her Car, the Government Waited Five Years Before Giving Her a Chance To Get It Back
In Massachusetts, Malinda Harris argues, civil asset forfeiture routinely violates the right to due process.
Local Health Departments Have To Start Learning From Local Farmers and Markets
A promising new law will give agricultural communities in Massachusetts more say in local public-health rules that apply to them and impact their property and livelihoods.
Massachusetts Starts 2021 by Adopting a Process To Fire Bad Cops
The Bay State finally creates a police certification system.
Massachusetts Voters Affirm the Right To Repair Your Own Car
The most expensive ballot initiative campaign in Massachusetts history ended with a resounding victory for property rights.
Massachusetts Spent Millions on a Campground It Can't Seem To Keep Open
Meanwhile a privately owned campground nearby works to bring in business
