Category «Free Speech»

US District Judge rules Trump’s deployment of California National Guard was illegal – Court of Appeals grants stay of order

Robert B. Hubbell: “In rapid succession on Thursday evening, the following occurred in California’s lawsuit challenging the legality of Trump’s federalization of the California National Guard for deployment in Los Angeles: US District Judge Bryer granted California’s motion for a temporary restraining order, finding that Trump violated the statutory conditions for federalizing the National Guard. …

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

Combating State Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention

“In 2023, in coordination with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) where I’m a non-resident associate, I helped launch a bi-partisan commission on hostage taking and wrongful detention. It’s an extraordinary group of experts, including diplomats, law enforcement officials, congressional staffers, lawyers, journalists and former hostages. Our co-chairs are former National Security Advisor …

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

Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans

The New York Times [no paywall] – “The Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work with the government, spreading the company’s technology — which could easily merge data on Americans — In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies, raising questions over whether he might compile …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Records, Economy, Education, Financial System, Free Speech, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research

The Tracking Gov Info Project

The Tracking Gov Info Project is a crowdsourcing effort to track removed and modified government information and resources. Although the news media have widely reported the current U.S. administration’s removal and modification of federal websites and information, it can be challenging to understand and analyze the scope of the problem without a central list tracking …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, E-Records, Economy, Education, Energy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Food and Nutrition, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Health Care, HIV/AIDS, Housing, Legal Research, Medicine

The Visionary of Trump 2.0

The Atlantic [no paywall] – Russell Vought is advancing a radical ideological project decades in the making. “The opening act of Donald Trump’s second term was defined by the theatrical dismantling of much of the federal government by Elon Musk and his group of tech-savvy demolitionists. Everywhere you looked in those first 100 days, it …

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

Group of former Big Law associates seeking to unseating firm managers from board position roles

What You Need to Know [American Lawyer – no paywall] A group of ex-Big Law associates who quit over their firms’ handling of scrutiny from the Trump administration launched an email campaign targeting firm management committee members. In provided form letters, the group asked members of the public to request that nonprofits and law schools …

Subjects: Censorship, E-Mail, Financial System, Free Speech, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

How Signal, WhatsApp, Apple, and Google Handle Encrypted Chat Backups

EFF: “Encrypted chat apps like Signal and WhatsApp are one of the best ways to keep your digital conversations as private as possible. But if you’re not careful with how those conversations are backed up, you can accidentally undermine your privacy. When a conversation is properly encrypted end-to-end, it means that the contents of those …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Records, Free Speech, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

Trump fires Librarian of Congress

The Hill: “President Donald Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill. Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be Librarian of Congress. A spokesperson for the library told The Hill in an email that “Tonight, the White House informed …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

End of Separation of Church and State?

Executive Order Establishment of the Religious Liberty Commission – May 1, 2025 – “…The Commission shall produce a comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty in America, the impact of religious liberty on American society, current threats to domestic religious liberty, strategies to preserve and enhance religious liberty protections for future generations, and programs …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Free Speech, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research, Libraries

Unlawful Orders: How Libraries Became the Front Line in the Fight for Democracy

Mostly Lawful Substack – Kyle K. Courtney – So here we are again — libraries as one of the last vanguards of real democratic values. When political power leans too hard, when laws are bent or broken, when public institutions are treated like disposable relics, somehow it’s librarians — and the people who believe in …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

Alarm bells: Trump’s first 100 days ramp up fear for the press, democracy

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ): “The first 100 days of the Trump administration have been marked by a flurry of executive actions that have created a chilling effect and have the potential to curtail media freedoms. These measures threaten the availability of independent, fact-based news for vast swaths of America’s population. CPJ has noted a …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Courts, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

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