Category «Civil Liberties»

Overview of Constitutional Challenges to NSA Collection Activities and Recent Developments

CRS – Overview of Constitutional Challenges to NSA Collection Activities and Recent Developments. Edward C. Liu , Legislative Attorney; Andrew Nolan, Legislative Attorney; Richard M. Thompson II; Legislative Attorney, April 1, 2014 “Beginning in the summer of 2013, media reports of foreign intelligence activities conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) have been published and are apparently based on unauthorized disclosures of …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Mail, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Patriot Act, Privacy

MENA Women: Opportunities and Obstacles in 2014

“On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2014, the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center invited a cross-section of women activists, politicians, academics, and entrepreneurs to give us their views on the situation for women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This publication, MENA Women: Opportunities and Obstacles in 2014 includes pieces from …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Knowledge Management

Obama’s intel czar confirms targeting U.S. communications

National Journal – How the NSA Used a ‘Loophole’ to Spy on Americans: “Technology Correspondent Brendan Sasso reports that Obama’s intel czar confirmed that they’re targeting U.S. communications: Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act gives the NSA broad power to listen in on phone calls and access emails. But the law covers only non-Americans located outside of …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Defense, E-Mail, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Patriot Act

The inside story of MIT and Aaron Swartz

Follow up to previous postings on Aaron Swartz, via the Boston Globe – More than a year after Swartz killed himself rather than face prosecution, questions about MIT’s handling of the hacking case persist, By Marcella Bombardieri. “..MIT is a cradle of world-class scientific research with unpublished data and unpatented inventions on its network, and its leaders felt …

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

Pew – Shrinking Majority of Americans Support Death Penalty

“According to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, 55% of U.S. adults say they favor the death penalty for persons convicted of murder. A significant minority (37%) oppose the practice. While a majority of U.S. adults still support the death penalty, public opinion in favor of capital punishment has seen a modest decline since November 2011, …

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

EFF – Reforming Terms of Service: Microsoft Changes Its Policy on Access to User Data

News release: “Last week we wrote about initial news reports that Microsoft had searched and disclosed the contents of a blogger’s Hotmail account as part of an internal investigation into the alleged theft of Microsoft source code and other trade secrets. Since then, EFF has been in touch with Microsoft to discuss our objections to the company’s …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Mail, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Microsoft, Patriot Act, Privacy

How the NSA Can Use Metadata to Predict Your Personality

Patrick Tucker is technology editor for Defense One: “The president and congressional leaders want to end NSA bulk metadata collection, but not the use of metadata, which may even be expanded. From a technical perspective, the question of what your metadata can reveal about you, or potential enemies, remains as important as it was since the Edward Snowden …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legislation, Privacy

Teaching the Movement 2014: The State of Civil Rights Education in the United States

“This report was prepared by the Southern Poverty Law Center under the guidance of Teaching Tolerance Director Maureen Costello. The principal researcher and writer was Kate Shuster, Ph.D. The report was reviewed by Hasan Jeffries, Ph.D. and Jeremy Stern, Ph.D. It was edited by Maureen Costello, Alice Pettway, Adrienne van der Valk and Monita Bell …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Education

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013

John F. Kerry – Secretary of State: “As we mark the 65th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this year, the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices highlight the continued pursuit of “free and equal dignity in human rights” in every corner of the world. Based on factual reporting from our embassies and …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Who’s Overseeing Whom? The CIA, SSCI, and the Speech or Debate Clause

CRS – Who’s Overseeing Whom? The CIA, SSCI, and the Speech or Debate Clause “In a Tuesday floor speech, Senator Dianne Feinstein accused the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of monitoring a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) computer network that was used by Committee staff while conducting an investigation into CIA interrogation techniques. Many facts remain in dispute, and indeed, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Defense, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

Key Academic Research on Detention and Asylum

Silverman, Stephanie J., Key Academic Research on Detention and Asylum (September 01, 2013). Detention and Asylum Research Cluster Publications, 2013. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2413148 “This annotated bibliography is meant to serve as a resource for exploring academic work on detention and asylum. It is grouped thematically according to a series of overarching categories. A weakness …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Legal Research

EPIC – Deadline Approaches for End of NSA’s Telephone Record Collection Program

“March 28 marks the deadline set by President Obama to end the NSA’s bulk collection of American’s telephone records. Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that the Justice Department is ready to meet the deadline that the President has set. After extensive meetings with leaders of the Intelligence Community, both the President’s Review Group and the Privacy and Civil Liberties …

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

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