Category «Civil Liberties»

The First Amendment Does Not Protect Replicants

Lessig, Lawrence, The First Amendment Does Not Protect Replicants (September 10, 2021). Social Media and Democracy (Lee Bollinger & Geoffrey Stone, eds., Oxford 2022), Forthcoming, Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 21-34, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3922565 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3922565 “As the semantic capability of computer systems increases, the law should resolve clearly whether the First Amendment …

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research, Social Media

The car becomes the weapon

Boston Globe (paywall) – Demonstrators around the country have been injured and killed by vehicle rammings, but there’s been precious little justice. And new laws could make accountability even scarcer…Given the choice between defending the safety of pedestrians protesting a police murder and the drivers of the vehicles running them down, prosecutors and lawmakers here …

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

LLRX Articles and Columns for October 2021

Articles and Columns for October 2021 Employing My Law Librarian Skills on an Uncertain Road – As we all navigate through the era of Covid, it is critical to learn from the myriad other medical challenges that many Americans, as well as our professional colleagues, are facing separate from the pandemic. Taryn L. Rucinski, Supervisory …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, E-Records, Government Documents, Health Care, ID Theft, Legal Research, Libraries, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media, Transportation

Supreme Court set to hear arguments in two challenges to Texas law that bans most abortions

SCOTUS Blog – Supreme Court set to hear arguments in two challenges to Texas law that bans most abortions: “Two months ago, Texas put in place the most restrictive abortion law since the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973. The law, which prohibits almost all abortions in the state, has dramatically reduced access …

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

Americans Don’t Trust Their Congressional Maps To Be Drawn Fairly. Can Anything Change That?

FiveThirtyEight: “The United States is in the middle of a once-in-a-decade process: redistricting. And although it’s early yet — 19 states aren’t expected to finalize their maps until next year — a number of states have proposed maps, and there are debates happening all across the country over which ones to pass. Six states have …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

Questioning Questions in the Law of Democracy: What the Debate over Voter ID Laws’ Effects Teaches about Asking the Right Questions

Zhang, Emily, Questioning Questions in the Law of Democracy: What the Debate over Voter ID Laws’ Effects Teaches about Asking the Right Questions (October 14, 2021). UCLA Law Review, 2022, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3942940 – “Voter identification laws, laws that require voters to present identification when voting (“voter ID laws”), first launched the modern Voting …

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

Here’s the FBI’s Internal Guide for Getting Data from AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon

Vice: “The newly obtained document shows in granular detail the sort of data that the country’s carriers keep, and for how long. Much of the information reiterates what we already knew about law enforcement access to telecommunications data—how officials can request location data from a telecom with a warrant or use court orders to obtain …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

A whistleblower’s power: Key takeaways from the Facebook Papers

Follow-up to previous posting – Whistleblower: Facebook is misleading the public on progress against hate speech, violence, misinformation – See Also the Washington Post – “Interviews with dozens of current and former employees and a trove of internal documents show how the social media company inflamed real-world harms.A trove of internal Facebook documents reveals that the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Commerce, Economy, Internet, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy, Social Media

The thorny truth about socially responsible investing

Vox: “It’s easier than ever to invest ethically — or, at least, to be told by marketers you are. Whether you’re actually doing it is harder to figure out. Investors have become eager to put their money toward good in recent years. In 2020, assets under management using sustainable investing strategies in the United States …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Financial System, Legal Research