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EFF: “Better late than never: last night a federal district court held that backdoor searches of databases full of Americans’ private communications collected under Section 702 ordinarily require a warrant. The landmark ruling comes in a criminal case, United States v. Hasbajrami, after more than a decade of litigation, and over four years since the …
WTF Happened Today – Trump issued a sweeping executive order pardoning nearly 1,600 people convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and commuting the sentences of 14 others, including members of extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. The move effectively ended the Justice Department’s four-year investigation into the …
Follow up to Special Counsel Report Says Trump Would Have Been Convicted in Election Case – critical facts and extensive commentary documentation via Emptywheel – “As part of Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein’s summary of the Jack Smith report, they argued that “Smith [came] to Garland’s defense regarding his conduct of the January 6 investigation …
The New York Times – gift article “…The Justice Department delivered the 137-page volume [link provided by DOJ – https://www.justice.gov/storage/Report-of-Special-Counsel-Smith-Volume-1-January-2025.pdf]— representing half of Mr. Smith’s overall final report, with the volume about Mr. Trump’s other federal case, accusing him of mishandling classified documents, still confidential — to Congress just after midnight on Tuesday. The former …
“A podcast about the United States Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. Hosted by three badass constitutional law professors– Leah Litman, Kate Shaw, and Melissa Murray– Strict Scrutiny provides in-depth, accessible, and irreverent analysis of the Supreme Court and its cases, culture, and personalities. Each week, Leah, Kate, and Melissa break down …
Wired – [unpaywalled] Newly Unredacted Court Docs Reveal – One of the most important AI copyright legal battles just took a major turn: “Meta just lost a major fight in its ongoing legal battle with a group of authors suing the company for copyright infringement over how it trained its artificial intelligence models. Against the …
Scientific American [unpaywalled] – The Supreme Court majority’s recent decisions about homelessness, public health and regulatory power, among others, undermine the role of evidence, expertise and honesty in American democracy. “When the Supreme Court’s Ohio v. EPA decision blocked Environmental Protection Agency limits on Midwestern states polluting their downwind neighbors, a sad but telling coda …
State Court Report – “Over 3.5 million people reside in the five inhabited U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each territory has its own court system and constitution or similar governing document. This explainer provides a brief overview of territorial courts and constitutions, including …
Network Contagion Research Institute & Rutger – Information Manipulation on TikTok and Beliefs About China, December 2024. “Three studies explored how TikTok, a China-owned social media platform, may be manipulated to conceal content critical of China while amplifying narratives that align with Chinese Communist Party objectives. Study I employed a user journey methodology, wherein newly …
The Verge: “The Supreme Court will consider TikTok’s case against a divest-or-ban law early next year, and a wave of filings has hit the docket this afternoon — from the parties involved as well as numerous institutions and public figures, including President-elect Donald Trump. If you want a firsthand look, the full list is linked …
The Elysian: “Everything we learned about the publishing industry from Penguin vs. DOJ. In 2022, Penguin Random House wanted to buy Simon & Schuster. The two publishing houses made up 37 percent and 11 percent of the market share, according to the filing, and combined they would have condensed the Big Five publishing houses into …
AP: “A federal judge on Monday struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors. U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks found that elements of the law are unconstitutional. “I respect the court’s ruling and will appeal,” Arkansas Attorney General Tim …
