Category «Civil Liberties»

Appeals court rules banned assault weapons are designed to kill or disable enemy on battlefield

Slate – Appeals Court Rules that Second Amendment Doesn’t Protect Right to Assault Weapons: “On Tuesday [February 21, 2017] , the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled that the Second Amendment doesn’t protect assault weapons—an extraordinary decision keenly attuned to the brutal havoc these firearms can wreak. Issued by the court sitting …

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

ProPublica Project – Documenting Hate

“The 2016 election left many in America afraid – of intolerance and the violence it can inspire. The need for trustworthy facts on the details and frequency of hate crimes and other incidents born of prejudice has never been more urgent. At this point, there is simply no reliable national data on crimes. And no …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Education, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance

“Genome editing is a powerful new tool for making precise alterations to an organism’s genetic material. Recent scientific advances have made genome editing more efficient, precise, and flexible than ever before. These advances have spurred an explosion of interest from around the globe in the possible ways in which genome editing can improve human health. …

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

The Presidential Timeline Project

“The Presidential Timeline project supports educators in developing students’ historical thinking skills and promoting civic engagement. The project consists of the Presidential Timeline website, Summer Teacher Institutes and webinars. The National Archives provides historical content and primary sources, and the University of Texas at Austin provides technical skills to create and maintain the website. Both …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Education, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries

Botnet attack analysis of Deflect protected website blacklivesmatter.com

Deflect Labs report #3. Seamus Tuohy and eQualit.ie View the report with 3D rendering (5mb) “This report covers attacks between April 29th and October 15th, 2016. Over this seven-month period, we recorded more than a hundred separate denial-of-service incidents against the official Black Lives Matter website. Our analysis shows a variety of technical methods used …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Internet, Knowledge Management

How reporters around the world risk their lives for the truth

Via GOOD – “Last May, the United Nations Security Council met to discuss a problem tragically common in the 21st century: dead journalists. In the new millennium, 876 journalists have been killed—with almost 40 percent of those deaths occurring in the last five years. Meanwhile, global press freedom is at its lowest point since 2003, …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

WaPo – Memos signed by DHS secretary describe sweeping new guidelines for deporting illegal immigrants

David Nakamura, The Washington Post – “Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has signed sweeping new guidelines that empower federal authorities to more aggressively detain and deport illegal immigrants inside the United States and at the border. In a pair of memos, Kelly offered more detail on plans for the agency to hire thousands of additional enforcement …

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

Please support DataRescue and other open access archive efforts

“DataRescue events create trustworthy copies of federal climate and environmental data, while the Internet Archive, datarefuge.org, and a consortium of major research libraries holds these copies. See our sister project at www.librariesnetwork.org. See also: “Orientation to DataLumos – ICPSR’s archive to preserve valuable government data. Join us for a webinar on Feb 17, 2017 at 12:00 …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, E-Government, E-Records, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

Animal welfare data deleted by government restored to public by Russ Kick

Follow up to previous posting – Animal welfare information wiped from USDA website – news via TIME on the freedom of information evangelist Russ Kick – “An Arizona man who has published thousands of animal welfare documents on his website since the government purged the once-public information is pledging to keep digging up data until …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

AALL joins 60 advocacy groups calling for open access info on government websites

Via AALL: On February 14, 2017 “the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) partnered with OpenTheGovernment.org and more than 60 other public interest groups and associations on a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), asking OMB to issue guidance reminding agencies that they are required under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

Libraries Are For Everyone

Via GOOD – “Shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries, assistant library director Rebecca McCorkindale created a sign to let immigrants and longtime residents alike know “Libraries Are For Everyone.” It was a simple message, but it quickly gained global momentum. After publishing a blog post about …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Education, Libraries