Category «Civil Liberties»

New Executive Orders Issued Today on Intelligence Community

Executive Order Strengthened Management of the Intelligence Community Executive Order National Counterterrorism Center Executive Order Strengthening the Sharing of Terrorism Information to Protect Americans Executive Order Strengthening the Sharing of Terrorism Information to Protect Americans Executive Order Establishing the President’s Board on Safeguarding Americans’ Civil Liberties Related news – Sources: Bush beefs up CIA chief’s …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents

New Gov’t Air Passenger Screening Program Announced

From the TSA press release today: “The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today announced it will move forward to test a new passenger-prescreening program called Secure Flight… Under Secure Flight, TSA will take over responsibility for checking airline passengers’ names against terrorist watch lists a function currently administered by each airline individually. The move will …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Privacy

ACLU Report on Gov’t Data Mining

ACLU press release today: “The release of the 38-page report, entitled The Surveillance-Industrial Complex: How the American Government is Conscripting Businesses and Individuals in the Construction of a Surveillance Society, marks the launch of the ACLU’s Surveillance Campaign, which is designed to regain consumers’ personal privacy rights by mobilizing people to contact prominent companies …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Privacy

ACLU Publishes Analysis of 9/11 Commission Report

Civil Liberties and the 9/ 11 Commission – An ACLU White Paper on Notable Findings and Recommendations in the Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States [PDF, 18 pages] “The following analysis attempts to list and analyze those parts of the 9/ 11 Commission report most relevant for the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents

House Complies In Response to White House Threat to Veto Restrictions to Patriot Act

Statements of Administration Policy (July 7, 2004) H.R. 4754, Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY 2005 [Link, 3 pages, PDF] “If legislation were presented to the President that includes any provision that forces the courts to allow notice to criminal suspects before a search warrant is executed, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Libraries, Patriot Act, Privacy

Commentary on Supreme Court Term

From the New York Times: The Year Rehnquist May Have Lost His Court ACLU Summary of the 2003 Supreme Court Term: Major Civil Liberties Decisions (24 pages, PDF) Supremes Tackle Some Issues, Punt Others

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts

Supreme Court Rules Against Child Online Protection Act

In a 5-4 decision today (Ashcroft v. ACLU), the Supreme Court held that “The Third Circuit was correct to affirm the District Court’s ruling that enforcement of COPA (Pub. Law 105-277) should be enjoined because the statute likely violates the First Amendment.” For additional documentation and commentary on this case, see the following references: Ashcroft …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts

2004 State of the First Amendment Survey

“The State of the First Amendment survey, released by the First Amendment Center each year, is a reality check on how Americans view their first freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and petition. The survey (PDF, 16 pages), conducted annually since 1997 by the Center for Survey Research & Analysis at the University of Connecticut, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties

Civil Liberties Restoration Act of 2004

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Legislation

Bill to Amend Patriot Act to Repeal Sunsets

A bill to amend the USA PATRIOT Act to repeal the sunsets was introduced in the Senate May 21, by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AR). See S. 2476. See my previous post on USA Patriot Act Sunset Provisions. See also ACLU, ALA Oppose Bill Making Patriot Act Permanent

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Legislation, Patriot Act, Privacy

New Bill Seeks to Protect Homeland and Civil Liberties

“Congressman Kendrick Meek (D-FL), Member of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security and Congressman Jim Turner (D-TX), Ranking Member of the Committee, and House Democrats, yesterday introduced the Strengthening Homeland Innovation by Emphasizing Liberty, Democracy, and Privacy Act, or SHIELD Privacy Act, to strengthen homeland security by protecting privacy and civil liberties.” Text of …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Legislation, Privacy

DOJ Advisory Cmte. Warns About Data Mining and Privacy

According to the New York Times, the Technology and Privacy Advisory Committee advises the DOJ, in an report delivered in March, but just made available (although not yet on the TAPAC website), that due to data mining undertaken by the government in the fight against terrorism, there is the need to establish additional legislative protections …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Privacy

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