Category «Civil Liberties»

DHS Proposes Biometric Airport, Seaport Exit Procedures

News release: “The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today a notice of proposed rulemaking that will establish biometric exit procedures at all U.S air and sea ports of departure. The majority of non-U.S. citizens are already required to submit digital fingerprints and a digital photograph for admission into the country. The US-VISIT Exit …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Government Documents, Privacy

DOJ OIG Testimony on FBI's Use of National Security Letters and Section 215 Orders for Business Records

Statement of Glenn A. Fine, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice before the House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties concerning “The FBI’s Use of National Security Letters and Section 215 Orders for Business Records”, April 15, 2008.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, Government Documents, Patriot Act, Privacy

Universal Periodic Review Working Group of the Human Rights Council

“The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group of the Human Rights Council has begun its first session, which runs from 7 to 18 April. At the end of the session, the UPR Working Group will issue reports on each of the 16 countries reviewed, containing, inter alia, an objective and transparent assessment of the human …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Government Documents

DOJ Memorandum Re: Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside the United States

March 14, 2003 Memorandum for William J. Haynes IT, General Counsel of the Department of Defense Re: Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside the United States, Declassified under authority of Executive Order 1958 By Acting General Counsel, Department of Defense By Daniel Dell J.’Orto UNCLASSIFIED 31 March 2008. (81 pages, PDF) “You have …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Legal Research

GAO Testimony: Perspectives on Four Programs for Individuals Injured by Exposure to Harmful Substances

Federal Compensation Programs: Perspectives on Four Programs for Individuals Injured by Exposure to Harmful Substances, by Anne-Marie F. Lasowski, acting director, education, workforce, and income security issues, before a joint hearing of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, and the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law, House …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, Government Documents

New Book Examines Global State Sponsored Internet Filtering Practices

BBC News: How the open net closed its doors – “Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering challenges the long-standing assumption that the internet is an unfettered space where citizens from around the world can freely communicate and mobilise. In fact, the book makes it clear that the scope, scale and sophistication …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, Internet

CRS Report – Border Searches of Laptops and Other Electronic Storage Devices

RL34404 – Border Searches of Laptops and Other Electronic Storage Devices, March 05, 2008 Summary: “The Fourth Amendment generally requires a warrant to support most searches and seizures conducted by the government. Federal courts have long recognized that there are many exceptions to this general presumption, one of which is the border search exception. The …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Privacy

Supreme Court to Hear DC Gun Case

PR Newswire: “Just two days after a new Washington Post national poll found that 59 percent of the American public supports restrictions identical to Washington, DC’s gun laws — which ban handgun possession and require that legally possessed rifles and shotguns be either disassembled or secured with a trigger lock — the U.S. Supreme Court …

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

UN Report: The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security

News release: “The political transition in strife-torn Afghanistan continues to face a number of serious challenges, including terrorism and a booming drug industry, according to a new United Nations report, which urges an integrated approach among all international partners to stabilize the fledgling democracy…The report notes that 36 out of the country’s 376 districts, including …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents

WSJ Reports on NSA's Expanding Domestic Surveillance Program and ACLU Files FOIA Request

Follow up to previous postings on TSA’s Total Information Awareness surveillance program, this news release today from the ACLU: “…According to the new Wall Street Journal report [subscription req’d], the NSA was engaging in broad domestic spying operations that involve collecting and analyzing the personal information of Americans in ways that are “essentially the same” …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Government Documents, Patriot Act, Privacy