Category «Civil Liberties»

ICE Arrests Nearly 800 in Florida in Operation With Local Officers

The New York Times [no paywall]: “The four-day operation came as the Trump administration has sought to enlist local authorities in an immigration crackdown. The operation began on Monday and targeted undocumented immigrants with final deportation orders, according to an ICE official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the operation. The officers …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Legal Research

One Third of Americans Believe Russian Disinformation

NewsGuard-YouGov Survey Finds: “In the ongoing battle between fiction and reality, fiction — much of it created by Russia’s robust disinformation machine — appears to be winning. A national YouGov survey commissioned by NewsGuard found that one third of Americans believe at least one false claim being spread by Russian media outlets. The survey, conducted …

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

Trump Takes Aim at Democrats’ Online Fundraising Platforms

Gizmodo: “President Trump has decided to target the online fundraising websites that power a majority of Democrats’ political campaigns. In an executive order on Thursday, the Trump administration initiated a plan to investigate ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s primary grassroots fundraising tool.The executive order, which was published on the White House website on Thursday, claims that …

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

‘Who Is Doge?’ Has Become a Metaphysical Question

Wired [no paywall]: “…The ambiguity around who is and is not DOGE starts with the fact that there are in fact two DOGEs: the repurposed US Digital Service, now known as the US DOGE Service, and a temporary organization within the US DOGE Service called, naturally, the US DOGE Service Temporary Organization, which is tasked …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management

Law Students Signing Pledge To Refuse Offers From Collaborating Biglaw Firms

Follow up to Big Law Preys On Itself – Above the Law: “As more Biglaw firms sell out their integrity in exchange for relief from illegal retaliation from the Trump administration, lawyers and clients are distancing themselves from the settling firms. Some law students have already walked away from recruiting efforts by these firms. A …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Education, Legal Research

Hundreds of scholars say U.S. is swiftly heading toward authoritarianism

NPR: “A survey of more than 500 political scientists finds that the vast majority think the United States is moving swiftly from liberal democracy toward some form of authoritarianism. In the benchmark survey, known as Bright Line Watch, U.S.-based professors rate the performance of American democracy on a scale from zero (complete dictatorship) to 100 …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Legal Research

DOJ agrees to let DOGE access sensitive immigration case data

Washington Post [no paywall]: “Representatives of the U.S. DOGE Service have received permission to access a highly sensitive Justice Department system that contains information including the addresses and case histories of millions of legal and undocumented immigrants, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The system — the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s Courts …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Economy, Government Documents, Legal Research

Classification as Colonization: The Hidden Politics of Library Catalogs

Via LLRX: Classification as Colonization: The Hidden Politics of Library Catalogs – Assistant Professor and Cataloging & Discovery Librarian at Murphy Library, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Mike Olson’s research focuses on the intersection of information systems and social critique. In this timely and insightful article Olson discusses why and how library catalogs have always been battlegrounds …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Knowledge Management, Libraries

These Are the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Executive Orders

“President Donald Trump unleashed a flurry of executive orders when he returned to the Oval Office, ranging from withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate to ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government. The steps represented many of the Day One promises he made during his reelection campaign. “You’re going …

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

Tracking the Trump Administration’s Harmful Executive Actions

Congressman Steve Cohen: “The Trump Administration has acted illegally and unconstitutionally in ways that weaken our democratic institutions, slow down our economy, roll back protections for public health and the environment, and put health care and Social Security benefits at risk for millions of Americans. And that’s just the start. I am committed to fighting …

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

An archivist’s job is to ‘keep the receipts.’ What happens when they can’t do their job?

Boston Globe [no paywall]: “Several archivists told the Globe they see the president’s actions as a threat to government transparency. To Katherine Wisser, an archivist who teaches at Simmons College in Boston, the National Archives was always more than a mere government agency. It was a standard bearer, embodying the strict code that her profession …

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