New England Public Radio

UMass Professor Takes Fresh Look At Abolition Movement

The new book, “The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition” takes a fresh, transnational look at the abolition movement in the United States. That’s a view not taken by most American historians. Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, Bronson Alcott and other Massachusetts locals appear in Manisha Sinha’s book.

The author says she was surprised to discover the precursor to Garrison’s “Covenant with Death” was a sermon delivered by a Hartford, Connecticut, minister.

Click the audio player above to hear New England Public Radio’s Carrie Healy explore the history of abolition in the United States with Sinha.

Status of Indicted Lee Police Chief will be Weighed at Meeting

The temporary suspension of the police chief in Lee, Massachusetts, is likely to be extended Tuesday when that town’s select board weighs the matter at a public meeting. Chief Joseph Buffis was indicted this month on federal extortion and money laundering charges. 

Buffis was suspended without pay by Lee town administrator Robert Nason the day after Buffis was indicted. He’s accused of compelling a local couple under investigation for prostitution to donate four thousand dollars to a toy fund, and later transferring that money to his personal account. 

At the meeting, Lee’s Selectboard will determine whether Buffis’ suspension will continue…with or without pay. When asked if the board might re-instate the chief, chair Dave Consolati says…

“We could, but that won’t happen.”

Still, Consolati expresses skepticism at the charges, saying he hasn’t yet seen enough evidence to convince him of the chief’s wrongdoing.

“There’s some issues or some statements in that that I don’t believe are totally true. So I don’t know what they found, where they found, how they know or whatever else, but not all of it adds up from what I know. So, we’re going to have to see what comes forward.”

For now, Ronald Glidden, who was police chief before Buffis took the job in 2011, is stepping in as interim chief. 

Defendants in UMass Rape Case Indicted on Charges

Four male teenagers accused of raping a female Umass Amherst freshman in October were indicted on aggravated rape charges by a Hampshire County Grand Jury this week. The defendants could face life sentences if convicted.

The Grand Jury indictments move the cases from the district to superior court level. The defendants are three 18-year-old Pittsfield residents, and one 17-year-old resident of Windsor Locks, Connecticut. All face three counts of aggravated rape, while one, Adam Liccardi of Pittsfield, faces an additional count of rape. The defendants allegedly raped a female UMass freshman in her dorm room after she agreed to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana with them.

Don Frank, a Springfield defense attorney says, if convicted, the defendants could face life sentences in prison, or be registered as level two or three sex offenders.

“Which means that they will be constantly monitored for, perhaps, the rest of their lives, until removed from the sex registry. It is a burden that is very, very heavy, just the sex registration alone.”

Frank says that alcohol complicates the case. He says under Massachusetts law, being drunk is not considered enough to inhibit one’s ability to give consent unless the complainant is drunk to the point of “stupefaction.”

“In this case there’s apparently some indication that she may have been in and out of consciousness, and that might be a problem for the defendants in this case.”

The defendants were also allegedly drunk, but Frank says impaired judgment can’t be used as a defense.

“An honest and reasonable, although mistaken, belief that the complainant consented, is no defense to rape in Massachusetts.”

Three of the four defendants are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges in Hampshire Superior Court on Monday.