Tag: Stoughton

A local access operation sues town officials in Stoughton, Mass., over alleged abusive behavior

Stoughton Square in 1908

If you page through the Facebook feed of the Stoughton Media Access Corp., you’ll find the sort of fare that is typical of local access — a guide to Boston’s best museums, the town election, Town-Wide Cleanup Day and the like.

What you won’t find is any sign of a lawsuit the access group has filed against the town and three of its officials charging them with civil-rights violations and defamation, among other things. You can read all the gory details at Universal Hub, where Adam Gaffin has a thorough report. Essentially, though, SMAC, as the access operation is known, is charging that the officials threatened the operation and demanded that it stop carrying any content in opposition to a proposal to build a new elementary school. Gaffin writes:

In its suit, filed in Boston federal court, the Stoughton Media Access Corp. charges the town manager and the two select-board members have tried to block the channel from televising meetings related to the school project, demanded it run only content that supports the proposal, yelled at volunteer camerapeople, tried to get authority over the hiring and firing of the non-profit’s board members and attempted to block its funding, which comes from fees paid by the two cable companies that serve the town.

The officials named in the suit are Town Manager Thomas Calter and Select Board members Joseph Mokrisky and Stephen Cavey.

In addition to the school controversy, the suit alleges that Mokrisky went ballistic over a video that failed to give him credit for the development of a new park. “The SMAC videographer denied Mokrisky’s accusation that the video was edited to be unfavorable to Mokrisky,” according to the suit. “The SMAC videographer was brought to tears as a result of Mokrisky’s verbal assault.”

Local access is a vital part of the news ecosystem in most communities, providing live feeds of public meetings as well as a platform for residents to produce their own programs. Stoughton does not have an independent news organization, although it is served by a Patch and by The Enterprise, a Gannett-owned daily in nearby Brockton. Neither outlet has reported on SMAC’s lawsuit.

The Globe’s Sandra Birchmore story is a shocking tale of depravity, expertly told

Photo (cc) 2008 by Torley

I feel like I ought to offer something uplifting this holiday week, but what I’ve got this morning is the opposite of that. Last week The Boston Globe published a two-part story (here and here) on Sandra Birchmore, the young woman who, we were originally told, died by suicide after years of a sexual affair with a Stoughton police officer. She was pregnant, and the officer, Matthew Farwell, may have been the father.

Following an investigation by federal authorities, Farwell has since been charged with murder. The Globe story, by Laura Crimaldi and Yvonne Abraham, unfolds in narrative style, telling a horrendous tale involving allegations that Farwell and Birchmore began having sex when she was just 15 (which would be statutory rape) and that she also had sex with Farwell’s brother, William, and another officer, Robert Devine; Devine denies the allegation. Crimaldi and Abraham write:

The immense power imbalance that Birchmore endured in her life persisted long after she was gone. Time and again, investigators gave the benefit of the doubt to the police officer now accused of killing a young woman who was rarely, if ever, granted the same consideration.

It’s a story that alleges shocking depravity on the part of the officers. It’s hard to come away from it with anything but despair over the human condition. But a Globe editorial accompanying the story does manage to find some heroes: Birchmore’s family and friends, who never gave up their conviction that Sandra had not killed herself.

“If it weren’t for the friends and family of Sandra Birchmore who pushed and prodded for justice after her death, there’s a good chance that Matthew Farwell, the man accused of killing her, would still be walking free,” the editorial says, adding: “The fact that Farwell was a police officer raises disturbing questions about whether police are capable of investigating themselves.”

The story appears in yesterday’s Sunday magazine as well as online. The Sandra Birchmore saga has received an enormous amount of coverage during the past few years, but Crimaldi and Abraham’s account will make you see it in a new light, through Birchmore’s eyes and those who believed in her. Depressing and upsetting though it may be, it is also a triumph of narrative journalism.