Category «Civil Liberties»

Draft opinion – Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights

Politico: “The Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO. The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research

10 key passages from Alito’s draft opinion, which would overturn Roe v. Wade

Politico: “Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion, which would overturn Roe v. Wade, wages a frontal assault on the reasoning of the landmark 1973 opinion that found a federal constitutional right to abortion. Alito’s draft is labeled as a proposed majority opinion, though the wording of the court’s ultimate ruling and the line-up of justices who …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Government Documents, Health Care

National Intelligence Report Shows FBI Warrantlessly Searched Americans’ Data Millions Of Times Last Year

Tech Dirt: “Eight years ago, prompted by the Snowden revelations (and Senator Ron Wyden’s persistent questions), then-National Intelligence Director James Clapper finally provided the public with some insight into the FBI’s warrantless searches of Americans’ data collected (supposedly inadvertently) by the NSA. The report delivered to Sen. Wyden was surprisingly redaction-free. But that didn’t mean …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Mail, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

SWC’s 2022 Digital Hate Report Exposes Widespread Russian Disinformation

Grades threats from social media and gaming platforms – “On April 28th, the Simon Wiesenthal Center released its 2022 annual Digital Terrorism and Hate Report at a press conference at New York City Hall hosted by New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and seven other influential Council leaders who represent the Big Apple’s diverse …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Internet, Legal Research, Social Media

Citizens’ Images of Potential War Crimes in Ukraine Flood the Internet, but Might Not Hold Up in Court

WSJ – Open-source data offers a trove of possible evidence, but it is untested at the International Criminal Court – “Each morning as he sips his coffee, Giancarlo Fiorella opens Telegram, a social-media app popular in Ukraine, and starts scanning for videos of potential war crimes—attacks on schools, or use of cluster munitions. When he …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Internet, Legal Research, Social Media

How Elon Musk might shift Twitter content moderation

Brookings: “…So, what is Musk likely to do with Twitter? He presents himself as a philanthropic custodian of a public resource. In an onstage interview at the TED2022 conference, Musk said, “this isn’t a way to make money. My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines, Social Media

US and over 55 other countries commit to democratic internet governance

CNN Business: “More than 55 countries and the United States announced their commitment Thursday to defending a free and open internet, agreeing to uphold digital human rights in response to rising authoritarianism in cyberspace. The agreement, known as the Declaration for the Future of the Internet, aims to forestall an emerging “splinternet” characterized by the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

The Holy Morality of the Supreme Court’s Most Sympathetic Plaintiffs

Slate: “A few months ago, professor Katherine Franke suggested, in a conversation on my podcast Amicus, that the current Supreme Court seems to be working its way toward what she called a “tiered” system of constitutional rights, one that would, in any conflict arising between the two, almost unerringly privilege religious liberty over every other …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Health Care, Legal Research

Nations in Transit 2022 From Democratic Decline to Authoritarian Aggression

2022 Nations in Transit Report Essays Overview Essay: From Democratic Decline to Authoritarian Aggression Exiting the Gray Zone Civil Society’s Many Faces In Eurasia’s Overripe Dictatorships, Longevity Means Instability “From Democratic Decline to Authoritarian Aggression – On February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a brutal invasion of Ukraine. This war, which has already displaced …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, Government Documents

Freedom in the World: Ukraine Country Report

Ukraine is rated Partly Free in Freedom in the World 2022, Freedom House’s annual study of political rights and civil liberties worldwide. Below are the Ukraine country reports from the past two years of Freedom in the World: 2022 Ukraine Country Report 2021 Ukraine Country Report The Eastern Donbas and Crimea regions each have their own unique Freedom in …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents

In the dark – Censored Planet

Seven years, 60 countries, 935 internet shutdowns: How authoritarian regimes found an off switch for dissent: “…Russia is a pioneer in the use of these tools but not an outlier. The technologies it uses are proliferating, creeping into internet infrastructure all over the world, helped by multinational companies that have turned censorship into an off-the-shelf …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

Disability as Metaphor in American Law

Dorfman, Doron, Disability as Metaphor in American Law (April 26, 2022). University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN “In recent decades, the term disability has become associated with a legally protected minority group of people living with impairments and the social oppression that stems from them. Yet in the legal realm the term …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research