Government

Why Were Panic Buttons Missing from Congresswoman Pressley’s Office During Capitol Siege?

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The insurrection on January 6th was terrifying for millions of people, especially for Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and her staff, once it was realized that the panic buttons were removed from their office. Pressley's Chief of Staff Sarah Groh revealed that terrifying tidbit of info in a Boston Globe interview:

As people rushed out of other buildings on the Capitol grounds, staffers in Pressley’s office barricaded the entrance with furniture and water jugs that had piled up during the pandemic. Groh pulled out gas masks and looked for the special panic buttons in the office. “Every panic button in my office had been torn out — the whole unit,” she said, though they could come up with no rationale as to why. She had used them before and hadn’t switched offices since then.

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Ayanna Pressley

Congresswoman Pressley Files Legislation to Lower Voting Age

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Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley reintroduced legislation to lower the national voting age from 18 to 16 years old. “A sixteen-year-old in 2021 possesses a wisdom and a maturity that comes from 2021 challenges, 2021 hardships, and 2021 threats,” said Pressley (D-7th).“Now is the time for us to demonstrate the courage that matches the challenges of the modern-day sixteen and seventeen-year-old. My amendment with Congresswomen [Grace] Meng and [Jan] Schakowsky would lower the voting age for federal elections from eighteen to sixteen years of age, and allow young people to have a say in our federal elections and the policies that impact their lives today and will shape the nation in their lifetime.”

Pressley pointed out that many states, including Massachusetts allows 16 and 17 year olds to pre-register to vote so they can vote on their 18th birthday. Pressley first introduced the legislation in March 2019.

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Government

Social Media Recap: Insurrection, Mayoral Vacancy, Climate Change Bill and More

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Since Jan. 6's attempted coup at the Capitol a lot has happened in Washington DC, and at our state capital. Our Congressional representatives impeached the president, and our local state officials fought for a climate change bill vetoed by the governor. This is the last week in social media. Both of Jamaica Plain's Congressional Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Stephen Lynch voted to impeach President Trump for inciting insurrection.

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Government

Congresswoman Pressley Surprised She Received Vaccine So Soon

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Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-7th MA) received her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday, which came as a surprise to her. “Candidly, I did not expect I would be able to receive the vaccine this soon. I planned to receive the vaccine at a Community Health Center in my district later in 2021," said Pressley via press release. "Members of Congress received notice at the end of this week from the Attending Physician that doses would be made available to us as part of a ‘continuity of government plan,’ a measure put in place during national crises. After consulting with my family and my doctor, I decided that I would move forward with this opportunity to receive the vaccine."

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Transportation

ICYMI: MBTA Proposes Stopping Green Line E Service at Brigham Circle, Increasing 39 Bus Service

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Due to the pandemic the MBTA is experiencing a huge decrease in riders this year. That puts a huge dent into their budget, and thus they are proposing service cuts across the board. Last year, MBTA riders took 1.26 million daily trips, and in October 2020, riders took 330,000 daily trips. That's 26 percent of daily ridership compared to 2019, according to the MBTA. Yet, the MBTA has continued to operate at 2019 service levels despite a decrease in ridership.

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Elections

Virtual Senate and Congressional Candidates Forum on August 12

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Six Boston Democratic Ward Committees are sponsoring a virtual candidates forum for two Congressional Districts and U.S. Senate on August 12. The candidate forum begins at 5:30 pm, and will be available to the public through Zoom and sponsored by the Democratic Committees of Wards 8, 9, 10, 11, 19, and 20. Tanisha Sullivan, President of the Boston Chapter of the NAACP, will moderate the forum. The forum will include Congressman Stephen Lynch, D-8th, and his Democratic Party challenger Robbie Goldstein, who has positioned himself as less conservative than Lynch. U.S. Senator Ed Markey and his Democratic Party challenger Congressman Joe Kennedy, will also address the forum.

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Police and Fire

Boston Police Commissioner Defends Meeting with AG Barr

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U.S. Attorney General William Barr was in Boston on Thursday and met with Boston Police Commissioner William Gross. That meeting sparked criticism from many elected officials, and led to Gross defending why he met with the controversial head of the Department of Justice. The U.S. Department of Justice tweeted out a photo of Barr and Gross shoulder-to-shoulder, and not wearing masks together in Boston. Supposedly it was the first time a sitting U.S. Attorney General had visited the Boston Police Department. As chief legal counsel to the president, Barr has most recently been widely condemned for ordering peaceful protestors to be teargassed in Washington D.C. to clear the way for President Trump to walk where the protestors were occupying so he could do a photo op.

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Government

Pressley Calls for Ending Qualified Immunity for Police Officers, State and Local Officials

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Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-7th) and Michigan Congressman Justin Amash recently introduced legislation to eliminate qualified immunity, which would allow people to sue police officers who violate their rights. “Qualified immunity shields police from accountability, impedes true justice, and undermines the constitutional rights of every person in this country,” said Pressley. “There can be no justice without healing and accountability, and there can be no true accountability with qualified immunity. It’s past time to end qualified immunity, and that’s exactly what this bill does.”

Lawfareblog.com breaks qualified immunity down:

"Qualified immunity is a judicially created doctrine that shields government officials from being held personally liable for constitutional violations—like the right to be free from excessive police force—for money damages under federal law so long as the officials did not violate 'clearly established' law." Qualified immunity dates back to 1871 and was originally passed to help the government combat Ku Klux Klan violence down South after the Civil War. There have been numerous Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeals cases through the decades on the topic.

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Government

Elected Officials of Color Present 10-Point Plan to Combat Systemic Racism in Policing & Police Brutality

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Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, and state Rep. Nika Elugardo were among elected officials of color to speak at a press conference on Tuesday outside of the State House, and released a 10-point plan to combat systemic racism. Pressley joined the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus and other elected officials of color from across the state to "speak directly to the pain and injustice facing our communities and to advocate for police accountability and reform." You can view the entire press conference here. Elugardo said that she worked closely with African American Coalition Committee (AACC), a group of "inside the wall" advocates incarcerated at MCI Norfolk who, before Elugardo was elected, helped draft the original bill to establish the Commission on Structural Racism referenced in priority #7. (Graphics from Boston At-Large City Councilor Julia Mejia)

 

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