First Amendment 

 The First Amendment protects the right of every person to speak freely without government censorship or sanction. Verbal criticism directed at police officers, even when it involves profanity, is protected speech. Therefore, a person cannot be arrested for such speech. Nor can police departments retaliate against individual officers who speak out against other officers or the department. Here are some sample cases the firm has handled:

Department of Correction censors materials from Prison Legal News

The firm represented Prison Legal News (PLN), an independent non-profit publisher and bookseller. PLN publishes a monthly magazine, Prison Legal News, which has prisoner subscribers in all 50 states. At the time of this lawsuit in 2008, PLN distributed books to prisoners in the federal prison system and in 49 state prison systems; Massachusetts alone refused to permit PLN to distribute books to its prisoners. The firm brought a lawsuit to end the unlawful censorship by the Massachusetts Department of Correction. The case settled, and Massachusetts prisoners are now free to order PLN materials.

Retaliation against a police officer by his department

A police officer was told he needed to take a psychiatric examination after he truthfully reported facts that supported a civilian's claim that she was a victim of excessive force by another officer. The firm negotiated an agreement with the department, allowing him to return to work without retaliation.

Arrest for cursing at a police officer

A speeding cruiser driven by a Worcester police officer who was responding to a non-emergency call almost hit the plaintiff as she crossed a street on foot. When the plaintiff cursed at the officer for almost hitting her, he turned around to confront her. When the plaintiff asked for his name so that she could file an internal affairs complaint against him, the officer arrested her for alleged disorderly conduct. The case settled.

Nader v. Commission on Presidential Debates

The firm represented Ralph Nader in a suit against the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a private corporation that Ralph Nader criticized, saying that it promotes the two dominant parties by excluding third-party candidates. On October 3, 2000, the CPD held the first of three presidential debates at the University of Massachusetts, Boston campus. Mr. Nader, the Green Party presidential candidate, was excluded from participating in the debate but had a ticket to view a televised on-campus screening, and he planned to speak with journalists on the campus. During two attempts to enter the campus, however, a representative of the CPD refused him access. A state police trooper threatened him with arrest. After the CPD lost its motion to dismiss and later its motion for summary judgment, on the eve of trial, the CPD agreed to settle the case for terms similar to Mr. Nader's initial demand.