Author archives

New DOJ IG Report on Patriot Act Documents Civil Rights Abuses

Accusations of Abuse in Report on USA Patriot Act: “A report by internal investigators at the Justice Department has identified dozens of recent cases in which department employees have been accused of serious civil rights and civil liberties violations involving enforcement of the sweeping federal antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act.” Report to …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Patriot Act

Judicial Council of California Adopts plain English Jury Instructions

New Plain-English Jury Instructions Adopted to Assist Jurors in California Courts: “In another jury reform, the Judicial Council of California today officially adopted new civil jury instructions that emphasize plain, straightforward language, to provide an alternative to often confusing legal terminology that has been used in California trial courts for the past 70 years.”

Subjects: Courts

Closure of GPO Bookstores Heralds End of Era for Print Gov Docs

GPO Holds a Clearance Sale as It Closes Bookstores Because of Web’s Growth: “It’s the Internet,” explained GPO spokesman Andrew M. Sherman. “Our online operation has just killed the retail end of this business. The mainstay of sales at our stores was principally regulatory information — tax rules, international trade, the Code of Federal Regulations. …

Subjects: E-Government, Government Documents, Internet, Libraries

Essays, Resources and Links from EPIC Privacy Program

On June 2, EPIC sponsored a conference, Privacy and Technology Looking Back, Looking Ahead. They only recently provided online access to resources associated with the presentations, which took themes from George Orwell’s writings in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth: Selections from EPIC Advisory Board and Essays by EPIC Staff.

Subjects: Privacy

Senate Votes Against Total Information Awareness Program

From Reuters: “The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to cut off funding for a widely criticized computer-surveillance program that would comb travel records, credit-card bills and other private records to sniff out suspected terrorists. In a military spending bill it passed unanimously, the Senate forbade the Defense Department to spend any portion of its $369 …

Subjects: Congress, Legislation, Privacy

Airline Plans to Use Digital Video to Monitor Passengers

According to an article in today’s Wired: “Southeast Airlines said it plans to install digital video cameras throughout the cabins of its planes to record the faces and activities of its passengers at all times, as a precaution against terrorism and other safety threats. In addition, the charter airline, based in Largo, Florida, will store …

Subjects: Privacy

Communicating With White House Via E-Mail Now a Daunting Task

White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly: “Those who want to send a message to the president must now navigate as many as nine Web pages and fill out a form that asks if they support White House policy.” A New York Times follow-up article: “The White House Web site began more prominently featuring the …

Subjects: E-Government, E-Mail, Web Site Accessibility and Usability