Category «Civil Liberties»

Julian Assange’s Introduction to The Wikileaks Files

Via Gizmodo: “This essay by Julian Assange is taken from the introduction to The Wikileaks Files: The World According to the US Empire, a collection analyzing how Wikileaks’ release of US diplomatic cables impacted foreign policy.” “…Cultures and economies communicate using all manner of techniques across the regions and years of their existence, from the …

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

What Does the Latest Court Ruling on NSA Telephone Metadata Program Mean?

CRS Legal Sidebar – Legal Sidebar What Does the Latest Court Ruling on NSA Telephone Metadata Program Mean? 09/03/2015 “On August 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in Obama v. Klayman, ruled for the government in the ongoing litigation over the National Security Agency’s (NSA’s) telephone metadata program. The …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Defense, E-Mail, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

Strategic Five-Year Technology Investment Plan for Aviation Security 2015 Report to Congress

Via FedBizOpps: “The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Office of Security Capabilities is presenting the Strategic Five-Year Technology Investment Plan. The Plan was prepared pursuant to a requirement in Section 1611 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296), as amended by Section 3 of the Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act (P.L. 113-245). It presents …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Patriot Act, Transportation

Diversity Levers

Burk, Dan L., Diversity Levers (September 6, 2015). Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy, Vol. 23, 2015. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2656884 “Patent law is capable of prompting innovation across a wide range of technologies by virtue of flexible “policy levers” that allow patent standards to be calibrated to the impediments that characterize …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research, Patent and Trademark

American Criminal Record Exceptionalism

Lapp, Kevin, American Criminal Record Exceptionalism (September 1, 2015). Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, Forthcoming. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2654382 “In recent decades, criminal records have proliferated and come to be more consequential than ever. James B. Jacobs’s new book, THE ETERNAL CRIMINAL RECORD (2015), documents their broad scope, wide availability, and the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Legal Research

Justice Department Announces Enhanced Policy for Use of Cell-Site Simulators

“The Justice Department today announced a new policy for its use of cell-site simulators that will enhance transparency and accountability, improve training and supervision, establish a higher and more consistent legal standard and increase privacy protections in relation to law enforcement’s use of this critical technology. The policy, which goes into effect immediately and applies …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Internet, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

EFF amicus brief in SCOTUS case on seizure of historical cell site records from a cell phone provider

EFF – “Americans have the right to expect that digital records of their daily travels—when they left home, where they went, and how long they stayed—is private information, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said in an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court of the United States. Weighing in on one of the most important …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, E-Records, Internet, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

Injunction against metadata collection reversed by U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit

EFF – “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s opinion [August 28, 2015] in Klayman v. Obama is highly disappointing and, worse, based on a mistaken concern about the underlying facts. The court said that since the plaintiffs’ phone service was provided by one subsidiary of Verizon—Verizon Wireless—rather than another—Verizon Business—they couldn’t prove that they …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

Continued Bipartisan Support for Expanded Background Checks on Gun Sales

“Two years after the failure of Senate legislation to expand background checks on gun purchases, the public continues to overwhelmingly support making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks. Currently, 85% of Americans – including large majorities of Democrats (88%) and Republicans (79%) – favor expanded background checks, little changed …

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

Census Data Used For Comprehensive Visualization of Segregation in American Cities

Wired – “This is the most comprehensive map of race in America ever created [by Dustin Cable at University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service]. White people are shown with blue dots; African-Americans with green; Asians with red; and Latinos with orange, with all other race categories from the Census represented by brown. …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Housing, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation

Review Federal Agencies on Yelp

Yelp Official Blog: “We are excited to announce that Yelp has concluded an agreement with the federal government that will allow federal agencies and offices to claim their Yelp pages, read and respond to reviews, and incorporate that feedback into service improvements. We encourage Yelpers to review any of the thousands of agency field offices, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Internet, Privacy, Search Engines