Feds to take over airline passenger screening from next year
CNN Oct 23, 08 3:56 CDT
(Newser)
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The terrorist watch list isn't the million-name behemoth it’s been reported as, the Homeland Security chief says. Only 2,500 people are on the no-fly list, according to Michael Chertoff, and just 10% of them are US citizens. Less than 16,000 people are on another, lower-level threat list, which permits flying. A new program is aimed at cutting down name mix-ups, CNN reports.
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Wave of shootings prompts Hartford
to crack down
Associated Press Aug 14, 08 5:30 CDT
(Newser)
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Connecticut ACLU officials are blasting a blanket 9pm teen curfew in Hartford and are considering challenging the crackdown in court, AP reports. The month-long curfew is due to begin tonight. The city announced the curfew after weekend shootings left one dead and 10 wounded. ACLU lawyers say the move violates minors' civil rights and punishes an entire demographic for the acts of a few people.
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Judge rules security concerns take priority over free speech
Reuters Aug 7, 08 4:15 CDT
(Newser)
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A federal judge has ruled that protesters can be confined to a fenced-in zone at the Democratic National Convention because security concerns outweigh activists' right to free speech, Reuters reports. The ACLU and a coalition of protest groups had brought a lawsuit against Denver and the Secret Service over plans concerning what activists have labeled a"freedom cage."
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Agents would be safe from prosecution if they acted in good faith
CNN Jul 25, 08 1:00 CDT
(Newser)
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The Bush administration advised the CIA in 2002 that its agents would not be prosecuted on anti-torture legislation as long as they professed an "honest belief" that their actions would not cause severe pain and anguish, CNN reports. The memo is one of three made public by the ACLU, and the rights group says they prove the Justice Department essentially sanctioned torture.
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As ledger exceeds 1M records, ACLU calls
it 'unfair,' feds call it 'effective'
Reuters Jul 14, 08 5:53 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Washington's terror suspect list has topped the 1-million milestone, Reuters reports. That adds up to 400,000 people, including duplicates, about 50,000 of whom are tagged with “no-fly” status. The American Civil Liberties Union slammed the list as poorly managed and too long to be effective. The ACLU has a convincing ally, the AP notes: a former Justice official with the same name as a terror suspect.
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City develops extensive CCTV surveillance network
Los Angeles Times Jun 16, 08 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser)
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If you plan to go outdoors in Washington, DC, comb your hair first, because someone's probably going to see you. The capital is ramping up a video surveillance system that puts most others in the entire world to shame, the LA Times reports. Unsurprisingly, the 5,625-camera network has captured the attention of privacy and civil-liberties advocates, and they're not happy.
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OPINION
Ex-election watchdog nominee details 'poisonous tactics'
Wall Street Journal May 20, 08 4:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Controversial civil-rights lawyer Hans von Spakovsky, who last week withdrew from consideration for appointment to the Federal Election Commission, pens a post-mortem of his own candidacy in the Wall Street Journa l. Asserting that “character assassination … has become the norm” for conservatives in confirmation battles, von Spakovsky says calling out Justice left-wingers was a key part of his downfall.
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Key document said to outline waterboarding techniques
Reuters May 9, 08 6:30 CDT
(Newser)
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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 torture documents still being withheld by the Bush administration." The judge will decide whether to make the memo public on Monday, reports Reuters.
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'Total body imaging' devices look under clothes for weapons
Los Angeles Times Apr 18, 08 9:59 CDT
(Newser)
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New technology will allow screeners at Los Angeles International Airport to scan passengers with a device that effectively looks beneath their clothes, the LA Times reports. The “whole body imaging” machines are drawing mixed reviews—a TSA spokesman praised the "brand-new security tool," but an ACLU rep compared a scan to a “high-tech strip-search.”
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Will take samples from illegal immigrants, felony arrestees
Washington Post Apr 16, 08 9:27 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The US plans to significantly widen its law-enforcement database by taking DNA samples from illegal immigrants picked up by federal authorities and from all people arrested for federal offenses, the Washington Post reports. The feds currently collect genetic information only from those convicted of federal crimes. The expanded policy follows the lead of 13 states.
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In 'oops!' moment, jurist says original ruling was likely unconstitutional
San Francisco Chronicle Mar 1, 08 7:20 CST
(Newser)
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The judge who (tried to) shut down Wikileaks by issuing an injunction against the whistleblowing site has changed his mind and lifted the order, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Judge Jeffrey White said his original order, designed to protect a Swiss Bank's information, raised "serious questions of prior restraint and possible violations of the First Amendment."
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Privacy groups file to intervene in case
Associated Press Feb 28, 08 3:00 PM CST
(Newser)
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Legal action resulting in the closing of whistleblower site Wikileaks.org has backfired for the Swiss bank that sought to protect confidential information about their clients, the AP reports. Popular outrage over the closing of the site over its posting of documents from Bank Julius Baer has cause the widespread circulation of those documents on privacy advocacy websites, as well as on Wikileaks own mirrors.
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Panel dismisses ACLU's legal challenge with one-line order
Los Angeles Times Feb 19, 08 1:50 PM CST
(Newser)
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The Supreme Court has dismissed the ACLU's legal challenge of President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, reports the Los Angeles Times . The ACLU had said that by issuing a secret order that allowed wiretapping without abiding by a 1978 law, the president was directly disobeying US law. The court today issued a one-line order declining to hear the suit.
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