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Obama Throws Away Civil Liberties With Defense Bill

President to sign bill allowing indefinite detention of Americans

(Newser) - President Obama is taking a lot of heat today for dropping his threat to veto a controversial defense bill that could allow the military to capture and indefinitely detain American citizens on US soil. In a fiery editorial, the New York Times today called it "a complete political cave-in,... More »

Americans Willing to Give Up Some Freedoms for Security

Public fine with surveillance cameras, not fine with email snooping

(Newser) - Americans are willing to give up some privacy and freedoms for security—but not others. A new AP poll has charted just which freedoms Americans are partial to. For example:
  • 71% are OK with surveillance cameras in public places
  • 58% are fine with full-body scans and pat-downs at the airport
... More »

One in Four Would Trade Rights for Security: Poll

And that's down big time since 9/11

(Newser) - Only about 25% of Americans now say they would give up their “basic civil liberties” in exchange for security—a huge decrease from the days after the September 11 attacks, according to a new USA Today/Gallup Poll . In January of 2002, close to half of respondents (47%) were willing... More »

Mexico Hops on Suit Over Georgia Immigration Law

10 other countries also sign on

(AP) - Mexico and 10 other countries have filed amicus briefs in a lawsuit that asks a judge to declare Georgia's new immigration law unconstitutional and block it from being enforced. The lawsuit was filed two weeks ago by civil liberties groups, who are asking US District Judge Thomas Thrash to... More »

House Passes Patriot Act Extensions

Move to extend surveillance powers passes 275-144

(Newser) - The House of Representatives has voted 275-144 to extend three key provisions of the Patriot Act until the end of the year. The measures—which would keep in place surveillance powers including counterterrorism officials' ability to conduct roving wiretap surveillance of targets—were slammed as "intrusive" and "unconstitutional"... More »

Judge Bans Man From Sex Over Low IQ

He's too challenged to give legal consent, says UK court

(Newser) - A UK judge has barred a man from continuing a sexual relationship with another man because of his extremely low IQ, the Telegraph reports. The 41-year-old lives in an assisted living facility, has an IQ of 48, and is "seriously challenged in all aspects of his mental functionality,”... More »

House Rejects Extension of Patriot Act Provisions

Twenty-six Republicans buck party line

(AP) - The House today failed to extend the life of three surveillance tools that are key to the Patriot Act. Republicans brought up the bill under a special expedited procedure requiring a two-thirds majority, and they fell seven votes short. Twenty-six Republicans voted against the measure, along with 122 Democrats. Supporters... More »

Democrats' ID Card Plan: Get Your Fingerprints

'Biometrics' a big part of immigration reform proposal

(Newser) - Now it's the Democrats' turn to be accused of trying to violate civil liberties in the name of immigration reform. A crucial part of their plan calls for what amounts to a high-tech national ID card. It would have a "biometrics" component—namely fingerprints—and every worker would need... More »

FBI Illegally Searched Phone Records for Years

Thousands targeted, including Times and Post reporters

(Newser) - From 2002 to 2006, the FBI repeatedly violated its own rules, collecting more than 2,000 telephone records by declaring terror emergencies that didn't exist, and then never following up with the letters required to justify such searches. As the bureau strained to gather intelligence more quickly in the wake... More »

More Surveillance = More Terrorism

We had info on Ft. Hood, Abdulmutallab, but it got lost in the mix

(Newser) - The expansion of government surveillance powers, often enabled by public unease following a terror attack or scare, actually makes those events more likely, Glenn Greenwald writes. The main problem is that intelligence agencies get clogged with useless information. In the cases of Ft. Hood and the Christmas attempt, our intelligence... More »

Loose FBI Rules Raise Privacy Fears

People are unfairly targeted, complain Muslim groups

(Newser) - The FBI has been given far too much leeway to gather information on individuals and groups, charge Muslim and civil liberties organizations. Guidelines in a newly disclosed FBI manual allow the bureau to probe people or organizations without any factual evidence against them. Agents are given broad powers to proactively... More »

School Censors Tween's Report on Harvey Milk

(Newser) - The ACLU is threatening to sue a California school district that restricted access to a 12-year-old’s report on gay-rights activist Harvey Milk, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. When the school learned of the subject, it delayed the presentation and sent letters to parents requiring permission slips for their children... More »

Obama Meets With Human- Rights Leaders

Under fire for recent moves, holds 'probing' pre-speech discussion

(Newser) - Dogged by criticism over recent decisions, President Obama invited a crew of human-rights and civil-liberties leaders and academics to discuss Guantanamo, tribunals, and transparency ahead of today’s speech on similar themes, the Huffington Post reports. Obama said he was unhappy with Congress’ denial of funds to close Gitmo and... More »

US Judge Busts Muslim Woman for Wearing Hijab

She's held in contempt for refusing to remove head covering

(Newser) - A Muslim woman was briefly jailed by a Georgia judge for refusing to take off her head-covering hijab in court, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The woman was arrested for contempt, and ordered held for 10 days—but was released after several hours. She had been in court with her nephew,... More »

The Bush Era: An 'American Fiasco'

Columnist rips into the White House's 'all-time loser' on election eve

(Newser) - In the waning days of the Bush administration, Simon Schama wonders how the president is handling his role as the “all-time loser in presidential history.” “If the Statue of Liberty were alive,” Schama writes in the Guardian, “she would be weeping tears of blood” over... More »

Police May Take Bigger Role in Intelligence

Critics fear Justice Dept. plan would infringe on civil liberties

(Newser) - The Justice Department has proposed expanding the ability of state and local police to gather intelligence on Americans, share it with federal officials, and hold onto it for a decade, the Washington Post reports. Supporters of the move say authorities would keep a close eye on the new practices to... More »

Big Apple Is Big Brother, Privacy Advocates Warn

(Newser) - Anti-terrorism measures planned for New York City have civil liberties groups worried, the Guardian of London reports. Operation Sentinel calls for cameras to be placed at every bridge and tunnel into Manhattan to photograph every vehicle entering and leaving. Details would then be kept on a huge city database. More »

Hard-Core Supply-Sider: I'm Voting for the Democrat

Former Chamber of Commerce honcho has had enough foreign policy disaster

(Newser) - Being a Reagan, Gingrich and Dole soldier won’t stop former Chamber of Commerce honcho Larry Hunter from voting for Barack Obama this fall, he writes in the New York Daily News. It doesn’t matter that he wholly disagrees with the Dem on every point of domestic policy; the... More »

Surveillance Law Gives Sweden Broad Powers

No warrant needed for cross-border phone, e-traffic; foes outraged

(Newser) - Sweden's intelligence service will have broad new powers to intercept cross-border calls and emails, without a warrant, under a law passed yesterday, the BBC reports. Critics, meanwhile, say it is impossible to fully distinguish domestic from international traffic without compromising the transmissions. Protesters handed out copies of George Orwell's 1984... More »

Judge Orders CIA to Release 'Torture' Memo

Key document said to outline waterboarding techniques

(Newser) - A federal judge has ordered the CIA to release a 2002 memo believed to outline interrogation methods that may amount to torture. The ACLU, which brought the suit sparking the order, claims that the memo details harsh interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, and calls it "one of the most important... More »

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