The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts wants the city of Boston to reconsider thwarting the sale of t-shirts that say "Stop Snitching."

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Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole had planned to send employees into shops to seize or "strongly discourage" the sale of the t-shirts despite the surge in murders and violent crimes this year, the Boston Globe reported Saturday.

It "is a form of official censorship which is fundamentally inconsistent with the constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression," wrote John Reinstein, legal director for the ACLU of Massachusetts.

Seth Gitell, a spokesman for the mayor said two spectators wore "Stop Snitching" t-shirts when they attended the trial of a two men accused of fatally shooting 10-year-old Trina Persad in Boston in a botched drive-by shooting in 2004.

"The mayor's overarching priority is the safety of the people of Boston," Gitell said. "These t-shirts promote lack of cooperation with law enforcement and, in some cases, the obstruction of justice."