Thursday, March 31, 2005
Passport Chip Criticism Grows
Wired reports: "Business travel groups, security experts and privacy advocates are looking to derail a government plan to insert remotely readable chips in American passports, calling the chips homing devices for high-tech muggers, identity thieves and even terrorists."
Correction: AP incorrectly reports Patriot Act - Mayfield link
KATU reports: 'In a March 29 story about Brandon Mayfield, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the Justice Department acknowledged in a letter that it used the USA Patriot Act to investigate whether he was linked to 2004 train bombings in Spain.'
Civil rights groups concerned about Taser use in Houston
"Civil rights groups in Houston are urging police to limit the use of stun guns as statistics show minorities are more likely to get shocked than whites. The Houston police department says officers stunned people with Tasers in 144 incidents between December third and March tenth. Blacks or Hispanics were shocked in 125 of those cases--or 87 percent of the time." KVIA reports here.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
N.Y. County Ordered to Stop Strip-Search Policy
"An upstate New York county has been ordered to suspend a policy in which all detainees, including those arrested on misdemeanor and traffic charges, are required to strip naked in front of a corrections officer." Law.com reports here.
Fourth Amendment requires law enforcement personnel to toe the line
"Television crime dramas have reduced the prosecution of fictional defendants to a formula that plays well with audiences. In the real world, though, the Fourth Amendment is king and all the painstaking assemblage of evidence can be in vain, if proper procedure wasn't followed in obtaining it." The Montrose Daily Press has this article.
ACLU Joins Lawsuits Over Michigan County's Naked Detention Practice
"The American Civil Liberties Union has joined two lawsuits against the Saginaw County Jail over a policy of stripping rowdy detainees and keeping them naked in solitary confinement." AP reports here.
Government Acknowledges Using Patriot Act in Mayfield Case
AP reports: "FBI agents used provisions of the USA Patriot Act during their investigation last year of a Portland attorney who was wrongly jailed for two weeks on suspicion of involvement in the Madrid train bombings, according to a Justice Department letter."
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
U.S. rights lawyer to attend sessions on treatment of Muslims at border
"A top adviser on civil rights for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will visit Buffalo Monday and next Tuesday to answer concerns about the detention of local Muslims last December at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and Peace Bridge." The Buffalo News reports here.
Patriot Act on trial
The Portsmouth Herald reports: "City Council Chambers looked more like the floor of Congress on Monday night as people from across the region debated the Bill of Rights and the USA Patriot Act for close to three hours."
True Patriotism: Coalition would reign in Patriot Act excesses
"The debate in Congress over the USA PATRIOT Act, portions of which are scheduled to 'sunset' at the end of this year, will not take place for months." The Monitor has this editorial.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Revise Patriot Act: Anti-terrorism powers should be scaled back
"Americans can expect the Bush administration's drumbeat of fear to intensify in coming weeks as Congress takes up the constitutionally critical matter of renewing the USA Patriot Act." The Register-Guard has this editorial.
Railroading Moussaoui
"Once again, the Bill of Rights is being savaged in full view of the American public without a whimper of dissent. And once again, the Supreme Court is eviscerating basic Constitutional protections in the name of national security." ZNet has this article.
City eyes resolution on USA Patriot Act
The Portsmouth Herald reports: "The City Council will meet with proponents of a resolution to affirm the Bill of Rights at a work session tonight."
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Eleven U.S. states debate privacy safeguards on vehicle black boxes
"BISMARCK, North Dakota-Raymon Holmberg didn't know his new sedan came equipped with the long arm of the law. The dealer hadn't bothered to mention the 'black box,' a computer chip that stores information on speed and seat belt use. 'When I bought my car,' he said, 'I didn't realize I was also buying a highway patrolman to sit in the back seat.' Holmberg, a state senator, believes his privacy was violated and is taking aim at black boxes." AP reports here.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Cops’ actions bring jury award
"Five years ago, three Tacoma police officers broke into Susan Frunz’s home, pointed a gun in her face, ordered her to the floor, asked her who she was, told her to shut up, handcuffed her and searched the house." Washington's The News Tribune has this account.
State Supreme Court sets limits on trash searches
"Police investigators must have reason to suspect a crime has been committed before they can search people’s curbside trash for evidence, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled." AP reports here.
Artists take aim at USA Patriot Act
AP reports: "Hasan M. Elahi's response to being targeted by the FBI as a potential terrorist after Sept. 11 ran contrary to what most people would think to do: Instead of clamming up, the Rutgers University professor decided to swing open the doors to every aspect of his life for public consumption. The result is 'Tracking Transience,' a multimedia piece that is part of an exhibition examining challenges to civil liberties under the USA Patriot Act."
Handheld Laser Wrongly Portrayed as Deathray, Says Bigha; Manufacturer Concerned Over Media Coverage Amidst Patriot Act Indictment
"As one of its customers faces 20 years in prison under Patriot Act violations, a small manufacturing company in Corvallis, Oregon complains of unfair media coverage. 'Our laser is completely safe,' says Noah Acres, director of marketing for Bigha. 'Too many people associate lasers with weapons from Star Wars or Buck Rogers.'" Yahoo has this press release.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Important Changes to Your Citizenship Agreement
"We would like to explain certain changes in the terms of the Citizenship Agreement for your U.S. citizenship ('Agreement'). Some of the terms in this notice may already be in effect on your account and will not change. Any terms on your account not changed here remain in effect until such time as we ('We') decide they do not." Slate has this satire.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Taking practical look at the USA Patriot Act
"Some of the Patriot Act simply made sense, changing the rules to reflect newer technologies. But other sections of the law went much too far, allowing the federal government to look into people's reading habits and to spy on the citizenry without judicial review - in the name of fighting terrorism." Massachusetts' The Republican has this editorial.
Patriot Act Used to Indict in Laser Incident
"A man accused of pointing a green laser beam at a small passenger jet, temporarily blinding the pilot and co-pilot, was indicted in Newark under the USA Patriot Act. David W. Banach, 38, said he was looking at stars with his daughter." The Los Angeles Times has this account.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
U.S. Justices Overturn Judgment Against Officers Over Search, Detention of Simi Valley Resident
"The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday overturned district court and court of appeals rulings holding Simi Valley officers liable for handcuffing a resident for an extended period of time during a search of the place where she lived. In a unanimous decision, the justices ruled that Iris Mena’s $60,000 verdict, including $40,000 in punitive damages, against two officers cannot stand. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, writing for a five-justice majority, said concerns for their safety supported the officers’ decision to detain Mena in handcuffs for the two to three hours needed to execute a search warrant." The Metropolitan News-Enterprise has this coverage.
Court Backs Law Requiring DNA Submissions
AP reports: "An appeals court has upheld the constitutionality of a federal law that requires prisoners, parolees, and some people on probation to submit DNA samples for an FBI database."
Deputy attorney general explains Patriot Act
"If Deputy Attorney General James Comey had just three minutes to explain the Patriot Act to the entire nation, he said, the vast majority of misconceptions regarding it would fade away." Duke University's The Chronicle reports here.
Groups Fight Patriot Act Reauthorization
"Conservative and liberal groups normally at each other's throats over the direction of government are finding common cause in wanting to gut major provisions of the government's premier anti-terrorism law." AP reports here.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Groups ask Columbia to oppose Patriot Act
South Carolina's TheState.com reports: "A coalition of local political activists wants Columbia City Council to pass a symbolic resolution opposing the USA Patriot Act."
Protecting civil liberties
"A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, is calling for the creation of an independent agency to house a panel that will monitor civil liberty abuses in the nation's war on terrorism." Newsday has this article.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
ACLU: Bipartisan Civil Liberties Board Fix Bill Long Overdue, Measure Would Take Oversight Panel Out of the "Hip Pocket of the President"
"The American Civil Liberties Union today welcomed the introduction of a bipartisan measure to strengthen the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board created by last year’s intelligence reform legislation. The board currently lacks critical oversight powers." The ACLU issued this press release.
New Book on Civil Liberties Published by Hamline University Professor
"At this critical time, when individual freedoms are being weighed against the need for increased homeland security, Hamline University Professor David Schultz has published a new book titled, the Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America." Yahoo has this press release.
Patriot Act is on Williamstown agenda
The North Adams Transcript reports: "Fearing the infringement of civil liberties, a group of town residents is taking action against the USA Patriot Act. On Friday, resident Ray Warner submitted a petition to the town clerk's office requesting a resolution opposing the Patriot Act appear on the town warrant for the upcoming town meeting in May."
The New Threat of Big Brother: The REAL ID Act
"The United States Senate is the most august deliberative body in the world. In Federalist No. 63, James Madison, the principle architect of the U.S. Constitution, reasoned that with fewer members and longer terms than the House of Representatives, the Senate would be insulated from the pressures of reckless popular politics. Hence, it would possess the requisite coolness needed for self-restrained deliberation. With the REAL ID Act just approved by the House in a 261–161 voice vote, temperate deliberation on the Senate floor is sorely needed." The Independent Institute has this commentary.
Monday, March 14, 2005
The Born-Again Individualist
"As the highly rated home to the likes of Abu Ghraib apologist Sean Hannity and the document-shredding constitutional scholar Oliver North, the Fox News Channel is about the last place you think of when it comes to quaint values such as due process, defendants’ rights, and restrained government. Yet Fox is home to television’s fiercest defender of civil liberties, Judge Andrew Napolitano, the network’s senior judicial analyst and a regular on The Big Story With John Gibson, Fox and Friends, The O’Reilly Factor, and other programs." Reason Online has this interview.
Speakers differ on Patriot Act’s impact on civil liberties
The Madison Courier reports: "The USA Patriot Act increases the government’s power, but how that power affects civil liberties is debatable. The first two lecturers of Hanover College’s 'American Security, American Liberty and the Patriot Act' presented different sides of the issue Sunday."
Government secrecy: dark cloud over open society
"In 1995, this nation was creating 3.6 million government secrets a year. Today, we have reached a stunning pace of 14 million secrets annually — a fourfold increase in a decade." The First Amendment Center has this commentary.
End Mr. Padilla's Limbo
"But the government's handling of this case has been lamentable and self-defeating from the beginning. Its initial contention that it could hold Mr. Padilla indefinitely, giving him no chance to rebut any charge or consult with a lawyer, shocked the conscience of anyone devoted to liberty." The Washington Post has this editorial.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Muslim Prisoners Were Mistreated, Inspector Says
The New York Times reports: "The warden and some guards at a federal prison treated Muslim inmates unfairly and retaliated against them last year when they complained about conditions, a Justice Department watchdog unit said Friday. The department's inspector general, Glenn A. Fine, said his office had found 'a disturbing pattern of discriminatory and retaliatory actions' against Muslim inmates at the institution, 'particularly against those who complained about poor conditions.'"
Patriot Act complaints investigated
"Of 1,943 complaints to the Justice Department last year regarding suspected civil rights abuses involving the USA Patriot Act, none accused department employees of misconduct because of the anti-terrorism law and only one unrelated case warranted a further criminal investigation, a report said yesterday." The Washington Times has this article.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Civil rights group assails Patriot Act
The Littleton Independent reports: "A small but dedicated group of activists met last week to screen the Robert Greenwald film, 'Unconstitutional: the War on our Civil Liberties,' and drum up support for a Congressional resolution that would make Massachusetts the fifth state in the nation to oppose portions of the USA Patriot Act."
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
LexisNexis Reports Theft of Personal Data
The Washington Post reports: "Identity thieves have compromised another company that collects and sells personal information on millions of U.S. consumers, the latest in a series of breaches that is throwing a spotlight on the practices and safeguards of a booming data-collection industry."
Patriot Games: Spinning the invalidation of the government's spy laws
"In a case in which a federal judge found a key provision of the Patriot Act unconstitutional last year, the government insisted on blacking out from legal papers the phrase 'the [still redacted] NSL violates the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.' And that's just one of the details the ACLU released today, about government attempts to cloak in secrecy the lawsuit that led to the invalidation, last September, of the National Security Letters provision of the USA Patriot Act." Slate.com has this article.
ACLU Alleges Patriot Act Misuse
"The Bush administration used a sweeping interpretation of a provision in the Patriot Act to block disclosure of even innocuous information, the American Civil Liberties Union said Tuesday." AP reports here.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Coming Soon to a State Near You: A Police State
"When you think of the following states - Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Maine, New Hampshire and South Carolina - what common denominator do you see? Conservative? Values voters? Except for Maine and perhaps Colorado, that's probably true. Liberty loving? Ruggedly individualistic? Weary of big government? Most of these states have significant segments of their populace who identify with these traits and concerns." TheRealityCheck.org has this commentary.
U.S. May Still Charge 'Enemy Combatant,' Gonzales Says
The Los Angeles Times reports: "Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales indicated Monday that the Justice Department might still file criminal charges against U.S.-born 'enemy combatant' Jose Padilla, even if the courts ordered his release. The Justice Department is appealing last week's decision by a federal judge that the Bush administration's nearly three-year detention of Padilla without charges or regular access to a lawyer violated the law."
U.S. attorney general campaigns for Patriot Act renewal
"Legislative debate on renewal of the USA Patriot Act remains weeks away, but the Bush administration already is ramping up a campaign to preserve and even strengthen the controversial package of policing powers, with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales emerging as its leading salesman." The Chicago Tribune reports here.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Ohio security bill has Muslims wary
"Ohio Senate Bill 9 troubles Majed Dabdoub. 'And all Americans should be worried,' added the Montgomery resident. 'My concern is that we will see more arrests of innocent people.' Senate Bill 9 is a state version of the Patriot Act." The Cincinatti Enquirer has this account.
ACLU pushes for Patriot Act expiration
"Onerous provisions of the Patriot Act - due to expire this year - that violate the constitutional civil liberties of U.S. citizens should be allowed to expire, ACLU representatives said Friday in Billings. Other extreme portions of the act should be repealed, they said, pointing out that leading conservatives are in the position to get Congress to ensure that Americans are both safe and free." The Billings Gazette reports here.
The Patriot Act: An Ace in The Bush Deck of Fear Cards
"Once again, playing the hallmark of the Bush Administration, 'the fear card', Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on February 28th in his first major address since his stormy confirmation, spoke in favor of renewal of the infamous Patriot Act." The Washington Dispatch has this commentary.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Real ID's, Real Dangers
"Have you ever wondered what good it does when they look at your driver's license at the airport? Let me assure you, as a former bureaucrat partly responsible for the 1996 decision to create a photo-ID requirement, it no longer does any good whatsoever. The ID check is not done by federal officers but by the same kind of minimum-wage rent-a-cops who were doing the inspection of carry-on luggage before 9/11." The New York Times has this commentary.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Patriot act topic of Wheaton debate
The Norton Mirror reports: "Which is more important, security or privacy? Hundreds packed the Wheaton College Science Center on Monday, Feb. 28 to listen to Congressman Barney Frank and Professor Viet Dinh debate the merits of the USA Patriot Act, which Dinh co-authored."
Patriot Act reveals student information
"For many students the library is a perfect place to study, conduct research or surf the Internet. What some students may not realize, though, is that government officials can secretly obtain records of what materials they check out from the library, according to provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. The Patriot Act, as well as other state and federal laws, allows the release of University documents, including a library user's registration, circulation records and material viewed online, according to the University library Web site." The Daily Illini has this article.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Librarians, FBI official debate the Patriot Act
"Enacted quickly in the weeks after the 9/11 attack, the Patriot Act grants investigative agencies some 'very frightening' expansions of powers which, to this point, have not been abused. Such were the views of librarians Wednesday night at Southern Oregon University as they faced off with an FBI agent who said investigators are only trying to 'balance security and privacy' as they work in the business of 'trying to prevent the next 9/11.'" Southern Oregon's Mail Tribune reports here.
Power and Law: A New Ruling in the Padilla Case
"In an important decision issued Monday in the case of so-called enemy combatant José Padilla, a U.S. district court judge in South Carolina rejected the government's approach. His ruling, rather than deferring to the government's broad claims, directs the reader's attention to the letter of the law." Findlaw.com has this commentary.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Rein in Patriot Act, some legislators urge
AP reports: "OLYMPIA -- Some legislators want to tell Congress they think the flagship federal law aimed at fighting terrorism should be changed to make sure it doesn't compromise people's civil rights. The state House and Senate judiciary committees heard public testimony yesterday on a measure that would urge Congress to pass a new law limiting some of the USA Patriot Act's broad surveillance provisions."
Ohio doesn't need its own Patriot Act
"The USA Patriot Act was passed as 'feel-good' legislation, giving politicians the opportunity to show the American people they had the common sense to immediately respond to 9/11. With some of the legal questions surrounding the USA Patriot Act, why would Ohio want its own Patriot Act?" NewsHerald.com has this editorial.
Detention of American Is Defended
"Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales yesterday strongly defended the Bush administration's decision to detain alleged al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla for more than two years without criminal charges, arguing that the government has the right to hold alleged enemy combatants in the war on terrorism 'for the duration of hostilities.'" The Washington Post has this account.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
When the State Becomes God
"During World War I, American activist Randolph Bourne had warned, 'War is the health of the State.' His prophecy has proven accurate; the post-1914 years have been an era of total war and the total state. It had seemed that with the fall of the Soviet Union, the state of permanent war, permanent mobilization, and permanent emergency would end. This hope has not been realized. Instead, the US and the world are now laying the groundwork for high-tech totalitarianism; liberty is in retreat, just as occurred almost everywhere between 1914 and 1945." SCP Journal has this article.
Federal judge: Charge Padilla or release him
CNN reports: "Calling the case a 'law enforcement matter, not a military matter,' a federal judge in South Carolina has ruled that the U.S. government cannot continue to hold 'enemy combatant' Jose Padilla without charging him with a crime."
Gonzales Lays Out His Priorities at Justice Dept.
The New York Times reports: "Laying out his law enforcement priorities for the first time since taking office, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales urged Congress on Monday to speed the process for deporting illegal immigrants, end the impasse over judicial nominees and extend federal antiterrorism powers under the USA Patriot Act."
|
|
