Sandra Birchmore's story touches a nerve
Hingham
It must have been difficult to take this deep, complex dive into the background of the men who are supposed to 'serve and protect' and see how they allegedly abused this poor young woman. What a strong family to persevere.
Patricia Canavan
Eastham
I woke up early to look up the Globe's previous articles [ahead of] our Sandra Birchmore group meeting; I wanted to brush up on details of her case and stumbled upon this article. Wow! Absolutely amazing work!
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Susanne Cleveland
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The writer is the moderator of justiceforsandrabirchmore.com
I am so disgusted and heartbroken for Sandra Birchmore's family. . . . Where are the federal investigators swarming into Massachusetts for a complete overhaul of all of these police('men') that we are giving power and guns to? My father was a NYC policeman for 20 years; he always said it was mostly social work (shouldn't it be?).
plantsandmusic
posted on bostonglobe.com
I have seen countless examples of students being helped significantly by positive relationships with school resource and community services officers. Please try not to assume that all officers are of the poor character and moral turpitude described in this situation. Many officers work hard and try to foster appropriate, supportive relationships with young people with whom they are in contact and take their responsibilities to serve the community as a sacred trust.
NANDOROCK
posted on bostonglobe.com
The Globe's terrific reporting and writing on the death of Sandra Birchmore is powerful and compelling journalism — hats off to all involved. This type of critical local reporting will be key to guarding against abuses of power in the months and years ahead. So, here's to you, Globe, and to the power of the Fourth Estate to do good.
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Carol Rose
The writer is the executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts.
All police officers should have a bachelor's degree in criminal justice before even being able to apply to the police academy. Studies have shown that officers with a bachelor's have better performance and outcomes. It baffles me that after only a few months of training, officers are sent out into the world, with a weapon. This needs to change.
Kerry Maloney
Millis
I am grateful Sandra Birchmore's loved ones kept looking for justice. Wishing it could bring her back.
WhyWontPeopleBehave
posted on bostonglobe.com
The remarkable Globe Magazine special on the story of Ms. Birchmore is an extraordinary job of investigative journalism, for which The Boston Globe has become known. All American journalists can be proud of this achievement. Now, may justice be done.
Gary Larrabee
Wenham
Crimaldi and Abraham were able to pull together the most important points of this story of people in power taking advantage of a young impressionable girl. It's beyond believing! Their talent and the Globe's ability to continue to deliver such articles are the reason why I continue my subscription.
Kathleen Dalton
Milford
Thorough, thoughtful, and fair investigation and journalism. It was incredibly complex and yet the writers shared it in a way that was both accessible and true. Sandra deserved this level of care and professionalism.
Stacy Davison
Arlington
Snap Judgments
I was overwhelmed by Jessica Rinaldi's photo of Lynda Bluestein, her family, and her dying wish (
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Shel Segal
Hull
Thank you, Globe Magazine, for this beautiful collection of 2024 photos with commentary from the photographers. But there is not ONE photo of girls or women playing competitive sports. Seven photos out of 30 online (almost 25 percent) are devoted to men's sports. Even given the Celtics season, this is not acceptable in 2024 when there were so many regional and global stories about female athletes and teams. Please take note and do better next year.
Emily Bateson
Dorset, Vermont
A nice reminder of life in all its quirky beauty. The Globe photographers are some of the very best in the business.
REB-57
posted on bostonglobe.com
A Hot Tip
I was appalled with the advice Miss Conduct rendered about tipping (or not tipping!) hotel cleaners (
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Charles Appelstein
Salem, New Hampshire
CONTACT US: Write to magazine@globe.com or The Boston Globe Magazine/Comments, 1 Exchange Place, Suite 201, Boston, MA 02109-2132. Comments are subject to editing.
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4 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Wasn't the president supposed to be deporting criminals?
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(For that matter, so has President Trump, a felon, and he continues to violate the Constitution day after day, as his mounting court losses attest.) But our region's undocumented Mexican and Central American immigrants are inextricably embedded in our lives. They care for our children, build our homes, dig our ditches, trim our trees, clean our homes, hotels and businesses, wash our dishes, pick our crops, sew our clothes. Lots own small businesses, are paying mortgages, attend universities, rise in their professions. In 2013, I wrote about Sergio Garcia, the first undocumented immigrant admitted to the California Bar. Since then, he has become a U.S. citizen and owns a personal injury law firm. These Californians are far less likely to break the law than native-born Americans, and they do not deserve the reign of terror being inflicted on them by the Trump administration, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has pointlessly but theatrically called in the Marines. 'So we started off by hearing the administration wanted to go after violent felons gang members, drug dealers,' said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who organized the mayors' news conference last week, 'but when you raid Home Depot and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you're not trying to keep anyone safe. You're trying to cause fear and panic.' And please, let's not forget that when Congress came together and hammered out a bipartisan immigration reform bill under President Biden, Trump demanded Republicans kill it because he did not want a rational policy, he wanted to be able to keep hammering Democrats on the issue. But it seems there is more going on here than rounding up undocumented immigrants and terrorizing their families. We seem to have entered the 'punish California' phase of Trump 2.0. 'Trump has a hyperfocus on California, on how to hurt the economy and cause chaos, and he is really doubling down on that campaign,' Flores told me. He has a point. 'We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor placed on this country,' Noem told reporters Thursday at a news conference in the Westwood federal building, during which California Sen. Alex Padilla was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed face down for daring to ask her a question. 'We are not going away.' So now we're talking about regime change? (As former Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe put it on Bluesky, the use of military force aimed at displacing democratically elected leaders 'is the very definition of a coup.') Noem's noxious mix of willful ignorance and inflammatory rhetoric is almost too ludicrous to mock. It goes hand in hand with Trump's silly declaration that our city has been set aflame by rioters, that without the military patrolling our streets, Los Angeles 'would be a crime scene like we haven't seen in years,' and that 'paid insurrectionists' have fueled the anti-ICE protests. What we are seeing play out in the news and in our neighborhoods is the willful infliction of fear, trauma and intimidation designed to spark a violent response, and the warping of reality to soften the ground for further Trump administration incursions into blue states, America's bulwark against his autocratic aspirations. For weeks, Trump has been scheming to deprive California — probably illegally — of federal funding for public schools and universities, citing resistance to his executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, on immigration, on environmental regulations, etc. And yet, because he is perhaps the world's most ignorant head of state, he seems to have suddenly realized that crippling the California economy might be bad politics for him. On Thursday, he suggested in his own jumbled way that perhaps deporting thousands of the state's farm and hospitality workers might cause pain to his friends, their employers. (Central Valley growers and agribusiness PACs, for example, overwhelmingly supported Trump in 2024.) 'Our farmers are being hurt badly by, you know, they have very good workers. They've worked for them for 20 years,' Trump said. 'They're not citizens, but they've turned out to be, you know, great. And we're going to have to do something about that.' Like a lot of Californians, I feel helpless in the face of this assault on immigrants. I thought about a Guatemalan, a father of three young American-born children, who has a thriving business hauling junk. I met him a couple of years ago at my local Home Depot, and have hired him a few times to haul away household detritus. Once, after I couldn't get the city to help, he hauled off a small dune's worth of sand at the end of my street that had become the local dogs' pee pad. I called him this week — I have more stuff that I need to get rid of, and I was pretty sure he could use the work. Early Friday morning, he arrived on time with two workers. He said hadn't been able to work in two weeks but was hopeful he'd be able to return to Home Depot soon. 'How are your kids doing?' I asked. 'They worry,' he said. 'They ask, 'What will we do if you're deported?'' He tells them not to fret, that things will soon be back to normal. After he drove off, he texted: 'Thank you so much for helping me today. God bless you.' No, God bless him. For working hard. For being a good dad. And for still believing, against the odds, in the American dream. @ @rabcarian
