Around New England

The Massachusetts Legislature Sex Scandal of 1855

Matthew McDonald

A state representative named Joseph Hiss was a member of a state House of Representatives committee overseeing nunneries during the period the anti-Catholic Know Nothings ruled Massachusetts in the 1850s. On a fact-finding mission, Hiss used state funds to get drunk and engage in other extra-legislative activity, as described by Lowell Sun columnist Peter Lucas.

Around New England

Family of Beer Pong Dispute Victim Awarded $15.6 Million

Matthew McDonald

In January 2013 a man accused of cheating at Beer Pong to win a $10 bet went flying out a fourth-floor window to his death in Naugatuck, Connecticut. Two of the other players subsequently pleaded guilty to manslaughter while another one fled and is a fugitive; all three were found civilly liable by a jury in Bridgeport.

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