Two Cops Were Given Qualified Immunity After Allegedly Stealing $225,000. SCOTUS Won't Hear the Case.
But the high court may consider other cases that could overturn the outrageous legal doctrine.
Civil Liberties
Supreme Court Won't Hear Suit Saying Facebook Helped With Hamas Attack
Hamas "used and relied on" Facebook "as among its most important tools to facilitate and carry out its terrorist activity," the plaintiffs claimed.
Justice Department Attempts To Blame Encryption for Terrorist Attack Feds Failed To See Coming
The FBI and attorney general want to ruin everybody's data security and draft Apple into compromising your safety.
The Michael Flynn Unmasking Fight Is Another Chance for More Transparency About Secret Government Surveillance
People insisted the wiretapping of Carter Page was perfectly normal. That turned out to be wrong.
COVID-19 Contact Tracers or Cootie Cops?
Tracing where people have been and who they’ve met can be effective for battling disease. But, oh boy, does it lend itself to abuse.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Says the State's COVID-19 Lockdown Violated the Rule of Law and the Separation of Powers
A seemingly arcane dispute about administrative law has profound implications for the limits of public health authority.
Senate Renews FBI Surveillance Powers With Modest Reforms
An effort by Sen. Rand Paul to forbid warrantless investigation of citizens was soundly defeated.
Tennessee May Finally Reform Draconian Drug-Free School Zone Laws
Too often, minor drug crimes turn into mandatory minimum offenses with lengthy sentences despite the fact these types of cases rarely involve drug dealing to minors.
Senate Votes Down Protections Against Warrantless Government Collection of Americans' Browser and Search History
The amendment lost by one vote. Absent from today's vote? Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Court in Devin Nunes Libel Lawsuit: "The Tedious and Laborious Exercise …
of dissecting each of the sixteen bullet points illustrates the deficiency of plaintiffs’ complaint."
Will SCOTUS Revoke Its License for Police Abuse?
This week the justices are considering 13 petitions involving the pernicious doctrine of qualified immunity.
Lockdown Lawsuits Ask How Long a Public Health Emergency Can Last
An Illinois resident obtained a TRO by citing a 30-day limit, while a New Hampshire hair salon owner says the goal of her state's lockdown has been achieved.
Sen. Mitch McConnell Looks To Undermine Efforts to Protect Americans From Secret FBI Surveillance
An amendment to a FISA renewal bill would let the FBI snoop on your online browser history.
How Fashion Designers Are Thwarting Facial Recognition Surveillance
Privacy activists say we should be alarmed by the rise of automated facial recognition surveillance. Transhumanist Zoltan Istvan says it's time to embrace the end of privacy as we know it.
How Supreme Court Doctrine Protects Cops Who Kill (or Otherwise Use Excessive Force)
A Reuters report suggests changes in qualified immunity doctrine have immunized police officers sued for misconduct.
Prager University and Tulsi Gabbard Lose Censorship Suits Against Google Â
Forcing Google to behave like a public utility would probably not serve the interests of those demanding that designation—or the rest of us.
Did Louisiana Enact a Bogus Health Law as a Pretext for Banning Abortion?Â
The Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of a Louisiana law that requires physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at local hospitals.
Anti-Porn Groups Target Websites' Ability to Accept Credit Card Payments
We've seen this before...
Courts Grant Qualified Immunity to Cops in More Than Half of Cases When Invoked
A Reuters investigation reveals courts "growing tendency" to grant cops immunity from civil rights lawsuits.
We Need Economists, Civil Libertarians, and Epidemiologists in the COVID-19 Discussion
The tradeoffs among considerations of health, prosperity, and liberty are catching up with us even if we don't want to acknowledge them.
Court Strikes Down Injunction Banning Divorcing Parents from Disparaging Each Other
An important decision from the Massachusetts high court.
FISA Surveillance and Possible Reforms Are Back on the Senate's Agenda
The USA Freedom Act expired in March. Some senators are pushing for better privacy protections before the renewal vote.
Supreme Court Can Put a Stop to Rule Compelling Anti-Prostitution Speech From Anti-HIV/AIDS Groups
The anti-prostitution pledge is unconstitutional when applied to U.S. nonprofits. But the feds say it's still OK to compel speech from these groups' foreign affiliates.
Biden Vows To Destroy Campus Due Process Again If Elected
Plus: Homeland Security has detained thousands of pregnant women, Ginsburg wrong about "seamless" contraception coverage, and more...
Immigrants Have a Right to Privacy Too
Forcibly collecting DNA samples from immigrants in detention is yet another horrifying form of mass surveillance
Alberta Cops Handcuffed a Woman in a Star Wars Costume Because Someone Complained About Her Fake Blaster
Considering Stormtroopers aren't known for their aim, the police had nothing to fear.
This App Protects Privacy While Tracing COVID-19 Infections
Stanford researcher Tina White and the new nonprofit Covid Watch are committed to protecting both individual rights and public health.
New Facebook Oversight Board Will Handle Tricky Moderation, but Will It Value Free Speech?
Mark Zuckerberg can't please the anti-tech populists on the left and the right, no matter what he does.
Supreme Court Justices in Texas and Pennsylvania Emphasize That COVID-19 Lockdowns Require Judicial Scrutiny
Not everything that states do in the name of protecting public health is consistent with the Constitution.
Canada's New Gun Ban Validates Fears of Arbitrary and Authoritarian Government
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unilateral order confirms suspicions that government is always on the verge of abusing its power.
Eisenhower's Military-Industrial Complex Speech in the Age of Coronavirus
The 1961 speech by President Dwight Eisenhower foreshadowed the current government's response to COVID-19.
Josh Duggar ("19 Kids and Counting") Lawsuit Thrown Out
Josh Duggar had sued over the government's releasing records of his juvenile investigation.
When Are COVID-19 Control Measures 'Arbitrary' and 'Unreasonable'?
Courts so far have not been inclined to ask that question.
Masks Can Be a Symbol of Privacy and Personal Responsibility, Not Tyranny
Plus: Family Dollar guard murdered over mask enforcement, doctors see "multisystem inflammatory syndrome" in kids with COVID-19, and more...
18-to-20-Year-Olds and the Second Amendment: Challenge to Florida Law Can Continue
So holds a federal district court.
"Clear, Compelling, Written Language Is Required to Waive" Free Speech Rights
An important First Amendment holding in a factually fascinating case, which involves an alleged breach of contract, a World War II Medal of Honor, a dispute over a history book, and a discussion of anti-libel injunctions.
How to Track COVID-19 Without Mass Surveillance
Apple and Google's Bluetooth-based app would reportedly be voluntary and anonymous. Privacy advocates say we should accept nothing less.
How COVID-19 Will Affect the Future of Policing
Like all of us, law enforcement will face a world of reduced public interactions, devastated economies, and changed ways of life.
District Court in Ninth Circuit Issues Anti-Libel Injunction
But other courts in the Ninth Circuit have categorically said that such injunctions are unconstitutional—the law remains quite unclear.
Reopening States Aren't Faring So Well. Neither Are the Ones Staying Closed.
Plus: Court rules against Kentucky's ban on drive-in church services, FDA authorizes remdesivir for COVID-19 treatment, and more...
America Wasn't Ready for Coronavirus
Early takeaways from the country's response to a pandemic
"Well, We Have Reviewed That Order, Too"
Not a great thing to see in an appellate opinion, if you claimed that reviewing a court order shows that you should win.
