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Category Archives: Civil Liberties
The Best Law You’ve Never Heard Of
The New York Times – Taking back control of our personal data can feel like a lost cause. But there’s hope! “Americans should feel angry about companies harvesting every morsel of our data to sell us sneakers or rate our creditworthiness. But a data protection law that few of us know about should also give… Continue Reading
Experts Say the ‘New Normal’ in 2025 Will Be Far More Tech-Driven, Presenting More Big Challenges
Pew – “A plurality of experts think sweeping societal change will make life worse for most people as greater inequality, rising authoritarianism and rampant misinformation take hold in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Still, a portion believe life will be better in a ‘tele-everything’ world where workplaces, health care and social activity improve…Asked to… Continue Reading
The Coup We Are Not Talking About
The New York Times – We can have democracy, or we can have a surveillance society, but we cannot have both. Dr. Shoshana Zuboff, a professor emeritus at Harvard Business School, is the author of “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.” “I have spent exactly 42 years studying the rise of the digital as an economic… Continue Reading
Abortion: Judicial History and Legislative Response
CRS Report – Abortion: Judicial History and Legislative Response, Updated February 8, 2021: “In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded in Roe v. Wade that the U.S. Constitution protects a woman’s decision to terminate her pregnancy. In a companion decision, Doe v. Bolton, the Court found that a state may not unduly burden the exercise… Continue Reading
NYT Op – Lawyers Enabled Trump’s Worst Abuses
The New York Times Opinion By Sherrilyn A. Ifill – Ms. Ifill is a lawyer and author. She is president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., a civil rights legal organization. “The legal profession must reckon with its complicity in Trump’s attack on democracy. Every day, we learn more about… Continue Reading
Women in National Governments Around the Globe: Fact Sheet
CRS Report – Women in National Governments Around the Globe: Fact Sheet, Updated February 8, 2021: ‘Women and girls make up half of the world’s population; however, in most countries, women are under represented in the political process at the national level. As this report shows, women currently hold 25.4% of legislative seats around the… Continue Reading
Federal Statutes Protecting Domesticated and Captive Animals
CRS Report – Federal Statutes Protecting Domesticated and Captive Animals, February 5, 2021 – “A number of federal laws aim to protect the health, safety, and well-being of animals under human control. These laws extend to pets, domesticated livestock, service animals, test subjects, and wild animals kept for exhibition, scientific, or educational purposes, among others.… Continue Reading
Voting Laws Roundup 2021
Brennan Center for Justice: “The 2021 legislative sessions have begun in all but six states, and state lawmakers have already introduced hundreds of bills aimed at election procedures and voter access — vastly exceeding the number of voting bills introduced by this time last year. In a backlash to historic voter turnout in the 2020… Continue Reading
Accountability 2021 – Restoring accountability in the federal government
Open the Government – 40 Advocacy Organizations & Experts Release Accountability 2021 Reform Agenda for Biden Administration – “The Accountability 2021 effort recognizes that the President has the power to create a government that is both responsive to and representative of the public—and demands that whoever sits in the Oval Office take steps to do… Continue Reading
Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied: Judges Fail To Rule in a Timely Manner on FOIA Cases
The FOIA Project at the Newhouse School TRAC/Syracuse University Report – “The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was passed to ensure the public’s right to know what their government was doing. Response delays have become a perennial problem. Federal officials increasingly ignore FOIA deadlines for responding, forcing FOIA requesters to take them to court. As… Continue Reading
Police in Libraries: What the Cop-Free Library Movement Wants
Teen Vogue: “In cities like Los Angeles, activists are working to end contracts between local police forces and public libraries…Cop-free library movements in St. Louis, New York City, and at Ivy League University libraries are similarly calling for police divestment. Libraries for All STL activists pressured the St. Louis County Library to terminate its contract… Continue Reading
