Category «Civil Liberties»

New on LLRX – President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Casts Doubt on Criminal Forensics

Via LLRX.com – The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) stated in their report – “Among the more than 2.2 million inmates in U.S. prisons and jails, countless may have been convicted using unreliable or fabricated forensic science. The U.S. has an abiding and unfulfilled moral obligation to free citizens who were …

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

Economist Daily Chart visualizes Trump’s first budget

The Economist Daily Chart by the Data Team – Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ budget would make deep cuts to domestic programmes – Graphic detail “Stephen Bannon, President Donald Trump’s chief strategist, famously promised the “deconstruction of the administrative state”. On March 16th, the Trump administration took its first step toward achieving Mr Bannon’s vision by …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Congress, Defense, Economy, Education, Energy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research, Libraries, Transportation

Handful of lawyers now dominate the docket at SCOTUs

“A Reuters examination of nine years of cases shows that 66 of the 17,000 lawyers who petitioned the Supreme Court succeeded at getting their clients’ appeals heard at a remarkable rate. Their appeals were at least six times more likely to be accepted by the court than were all others filed by private lawyers during …

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

New IPU and UN Women map shows women’s representation in politics stagnating

UN Women: “The number of women in executive government and in parliament worldwide has stagnated, with only marginal improvements since 2015, according to the data presented in the Women in Politics 2017 Map launched today by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women. The Map, which depicts global rankings for women in the executive and …

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

Statement of ABA President re: Eliminated Funding for Legal Services Corporation

March, 16, 2017 – “The American Bar Association is outraged that the administration proposes to eliminate funding for the Legal Services Corporation in its budget and calls on every member of Congress to restore full funding. LSC provides civil legal aid to people who desperately need help to navigate the legal process. Without this assistance, …

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

Federal budget proposal cuts programs and services across the government

Bloomberg provides a detailed, clear and actionable article, accompanying visualization and charts specific to These 80 Programs Would Lose Federal Funding Under Trump’s Proposed Budget – “U.S. President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal includes massive cuts across most of the federal government. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture face unprecedented discretionary funding …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Congress, Economy, Education, Environmental Law, Financial System, Food and Nutrition, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries, Transportation

MIT announces prize for responsible civil disobedience

“On July 21, 2016 we announced the creation of a $250K cash prize award for responsible disobedience. This idea came after a realization that there’s a widespread frustration from people trying to figure out how can we effectively harness responsible, ethical disobedience aimed at challenging our norms, rules, or laws to benefit society. And so …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information

Judges in Maryland and Hawaii block revised Trump travel band

Update, March 16, 2017 – The New York Times – 2 Federal Judges Halt Trump’s New Travel Ban – “Both rulings – the one in Hawaii more expansive than the one in Maryland — said the likely purpose of the president’s order was a de facto ban on Muslims.” Follow-up up to previous postings, Responses to …

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

Court: FBI’s Secret Rules for Spying on Journalists Can Remain Secret

FindLaw – “In 2015, the Freedom of the Press Foundation sued the Department of Justice under the Freedom of Information Act in an attempt to force the DOJ to publish its rules for conducting warrantless spying on journalists in the United States. The DOJ responded that it had supplied all of the documentation the Foundation …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

6 countries named in revised Trump travel order accounted for more than 650,000 U.S. entries since 2006

Pew – “The six nations affected by a new executive order that prevents their citizens from obtaining new visas to enter the United States for 90 days accounted for 649,932 legal U.S. entries between fiscal years 2006 and 2015. This group includes visitors, students and diplomats as well as refugees and new lawful permanent residents, …

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

Map documents inequality in education in US

Via CityLab: “Neighborhoods in which a person grows up affect his or her future earnings, longevity, and educational outcomes—all of which are, of course, interconnected. That’s vividly evident in a new dot map showing the distribution of the U.S. population by educational attainment. This interactive visualization was created by Kyle Walker, a geography professor at …

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

Hawaii v. Trump

“Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin announced today that the state of Hawaii has filed a motion for a temporary restraining order in its federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump, following the new executive order banning travel from six Muslim-majority nations issued earlier this week. Today’s filings ask the court to declare that sections 2 and …

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