By KYLE SMEALLIE AND HARVEY SILVERGLATE

From the Boston Phoenix, March 24, 2011

Chuck Turner reports to prison Friday. If his sentence sticks, that’s where the 70-year-old former Boston city councilor will spend the next three years.

Turner was convicted of attempted extortion, for accepting a bribe from a paid FBI informant, and also of giving false statements to federal officials, for lying about it to investigators. But there is much more to the case. Stepping back, it becomes clear that Turner was targeted by the FBI because he refused to play ball and build the government’s case against another Massachusetts politician, former state senator Dianne Wilkerson. This is all about federal power – the power to destroy any who won’t cooperate with the government’s agenda.

by Jason Pramas, March 25, 2011

Open Media Boston Editorial

The scene at Northeastern Law School yesterday – as Chuck Turner gave his last speech before starting a three year term in federal prison – was sad on a number of levels. First, NU students did a very poor job of organizing the event – with the result that over 100 people were forced to leave the building where the event was being held, after a number of reasonable proposals to provide overflow space or use another facility on the large campus were rebuffed by the students and a couple of administrators who happened to be on hand. Second, most of the Boston press corps was also kept out of the event – this despite my public plea on behalf of the assembled journalists pointing out that failing to let us in was effectively preventing a large audience from being aware of the event at all – plus making the unfortunate treatment of the press part of the few stories that did ultimately get produced.