Martha Coakley

Latest Articles

Coakley's true grit

In a move that sparked national applause, the Attorney General goes after five financial giants for subprime fraud
Three recent developments suggest that the worm is turning and that the criminal behavior of the nation's huge money-center banks might finally suffer something approaching real justice.
By EDITORIAL | December 07, 2011

A libertarian's view of the Barstool/Brady child-porn fiasco

Freedom Watch
Sophisticated First Amendment scholars, lawyers, and media commentators, all of whom are strongly free-speech/free-press supporters, were critical of Coakley for allegedly engaging in a legal bluff — the veiled threat of possible prosecution under the state's child-porn statute — to convince Portnoy to remove the offending and exploitative image from his site.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | August 25, 2011

Republicans continue to wage war on women

Plus, Beacon Hill follies, youth violence
The Republican Party's unrelenting war on women is now being waged with such frenzied fury that sane people might well wonder if there is a GOP-wide obsession with punishing an entire gender.
By EDITORIAL | May 11, 2011

Romney rides again

To win the GOP nomination, Mitt will need to do things differently this time. Here's how.
Mitt Romney has been running for president more or less nonstop for the past seven years — and still hasn't figured out how to do it.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 14, 2011

Legal questions remain after Obama disses DOMA

Dismantling discrimation
Gay-marriage advocates got good news last month, when the Obama administration admitted that it was incapable of defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federal law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | March 02, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

Boston Phoenix 2010 Endorsements: Steve Grossman, Martha Coakley, and Barney Frank

Plus, more endorsements and the ballot questions
Far too often, politics is the act of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. This election, voters have the unique chance of choosing a candidate who is a perfect fit for the office he seeks. That is why we endorse Democrat STEVE GROSSMAN for treasurer.
By EDITORIAL | November 01, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Innocence lost, but not forgotten

Freedom watch
In film, the demands of art and of history are often in conflict. The aptly-titled Conviction , opening this Friday in theaters, is the rare feature film that satisfies both demands.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE AND KYLE SMEALLIE | October 13, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Same Old Faces

It's an outsider's year for candidates, but the consultants are old Beacon Hill mainstays. Plus, who spent what at the conventions, and Baker goes on TV first.
If you're wondering who the geniuses are behind the political campaigns in Massachusetts this year — the strategists, media firms, ad teams, and fundraisers — well, it's a lot of the same folks who have been behind Massachusetts campaigns for a long time. Candidates may win or lose, but consultants are forever.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 24, 2010

Weenie Roast!

The Phoenix 's second annual Memorial Day political roast
A year ago, with scandals and embarrassments swirling around Massachusetts state politics, the Phoenix tossed some well-deserving pols on the flames in our first annual Memorial Day political roast. I'm pleased that I've been invited back.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 05, 2010

Fighting back

Two cases in federal court here in Massachusetts could help turn the national tide against DOMA
Thanks to a federal law that codifies discrimination against same-sex couples, more than 15,000 legally married couples (and an untold number of children) are being denied basic benefits, such as the right to file their taxes jointly, or Social Security payments and health-insurance subsidies.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 04, 2010

Tea Party Progressives?

Outsiders are trying to crash the gates of the state’s Democratic establishment — and are starting to succeed
When Democrat Peter Smulowitz celebrated his victory in the special-election primary for State Senate earlier this month in the back room of Masala Art restaurant in Needham, no bigwigs from his party were in attendance.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 03, 2010

GOP’s state convention delivers the bland brand

Dull and Duller Dept.
Massachusetts Republican candidates for office this November might be well-advised to legally change their names and appear on the ballot as “Someone Else,” “Another Option,” or “Available Alternative.”
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 23, 2010

Lynch’s left flank

The Southie Congressman may have pushed progressives too far this time.
US Representative Stephen Lynch has held Massachusetts’s ninth congressional district since 2001 — a fact that has irritated the state’s liberals ever since.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 02, 2010

Taxi turmoil

Plus, controlling local health costs
Taxis are an under-appreciated and often little-considered component in urban mass-transit systems. They fill the gaps left by the MBTA and offer a sort of curb-to-curb, citywide Zipcar service.
By EDITORIAL | March 17, 2010

The Curse of the Big Dig

Tthe mere mention of the Central Artery Project can derail one's hopes for higher office. Charlie Baker is finding that out now.
Call it the Curse of the Big Dig: virtually every politician with statewide significance who has over the years become intertwined with the Central Artery Project (as it is officially known) has seen his or her dreams of higher office dashed.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 17, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Right Click

Conservatives have ruled radio and liberals have dominated the net; but as the Red Mass Group's rise demonstrates, the left's Web supremacy is hardly a sure bet.
Back in February 2007, a few months after a political neophyte named Deval Patrick cruised to victory in the Massachusetts governor's race with help from a political blog named Blue Mass Group (BMG) — which whipped up pro-Patrick sentiment while aggressively rebutting the governor-to-be's critics — I sized up a recent conservative entry in the local blogosphere.
By ADAM REILLY | February 19, 2010

Political pig pile

Kennedy sets off a free-for-all; bad news for Loughlin and Dennigan
For some time now, we at Casa Diablo have been aware of what is either a heinous conspiracy involving the timing of local news revelations or just another unfair law of nature.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | February 24, 2010

Improv Asylum presents Scott Brown: The Musical

Tax Relief? Good Grief!
Should US Senator Scott Brown ever find any downtime between crucial votes on the future of this nation and hand-modeling gigs, he may want to flex his melodrama muscles.
By MADDY MYERS | February 12, 2010

The next Scott Brown?

John J. Loughlin’s suddenly high-profile campaign to oust Patrick Kennedy
Republican Scott Brown's victory last month in the race for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat has every two-bit GOP hopeful in the Northeast claiming the mantle of the pick-up truck populist.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | February 10, 2010

Clearing the air

Letters to the Boston editor, February 12, 2010
Adam Reilly’s analysis of right-wing talk radio’s support of Scott Brown was nearly perfect.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | February 10, 2010

Poor reception

Talk radio helped energize Scott Brown's Senate campaign. Will it doom the Democrats in 2010?
The right loves to rant against the "liberal-media elite," but there's one key media sector where the conservative id reigns supreme: talk radio.
By ADAM REILLY | February 08, 2010