Post-9/11 Fear Grew the Surveillance State. 25 Years Later, It's Still Growing.
The U.S. government responded in ways that are so integrated into daily life that we no longer recognize them.
Law enforcement
Police in Atlanta Settle Eric André Lawsuit, End Airport Drug Searches
While the settlement is a good thing, it's unfortunately still the case that at airports, the Bill of Rights is more of a list of suggestions.
America Is Building a Surveillance State Like China's
"If there are Flock cameras in your city, they are tracking, logging and sharing your movements without a warrant," warns the ACLU.
ICE Admits It Investigated a Critic Based on Constitutionally Protected Speech
The agency’s attempt to intimidate David Streever is at the center of a First Amendment case.
Trump's Assault on Judicial Review Undermines a Crucial Safeguard Against Tyranny
In one case after another, the president has tried to cut the courts out of the picture painted by the Framers.
She Spent 7 Months in Legal Hell After Cops Used Flock Surveillance To Identify the Wrong Car
From wrongful arrests to officers stalking exes, license plate cameras keep exposing police failures.
Airports Are ICE's Latest Target, Raising 4th Amendment Concerns From Airlines
An apparent surge of ICE arrests in airport terminals has created viral videos and questions over ICE's authority to board planes without judicial warrants.
Texas Man Arrested After Ranting About Age Verification Laws Blocking His Anime
Did he make a true threat? Or was this just hyperbolic ranting about bad policy?
North Carolina Citizen Files Damages Claim After Border Patrol Arrested Him, Then Left Him on the Roadside
A viral video showed immigration officers uncuffing Fernando Vasquez and then dumping his papers onto the ground before driving off.
Police Mix Up Usernames, Man Spends 18 Months in Prison for Someone Else's Sex Crimes
"He should never have been charged, let alone convicted," judges now say.
Kansas Lawsuit: ALPRs Turn a License Plate Into the 'Functional Equivalent' of a 'GPS Tracking Device'
The Kansas Justice Institute argues that Wichita's "warrantless ALPR dragnet surveillance program" violates the state constitution's privacy protections.
A Pennsylvania Mom Says the Cops Were Called on Her 4 Times—for Letting Her Kids Be Outside
State lawmakers are mulling a law that would establish commonsense protections for families that give their children a reasonable amount of independence.
Georgia Cops Keep Getting Arrested for Misusing Flock Surveillance Data
Although Flock Safety’s auditing tools have helped catch the bad actors, more is needed to protect Americans’ privacy.
Florida Wildlife Agency Tracked Critics Using Law Enforcement Database
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says it followed the law when it pulled the driving records of more than a dozen critics of the agency.
The Homicide Rate Has Dropped to Historic Lows. Contrary to What Politicians Say, No One Really Knows Why.
The latest numbers from a sample of U.S. cities indicate continuing crime decreases that go beyond a reversion to pre-2020 norms.
Pennsylvania's Top Court Unanimously Rejects Warrantless Searches of Private Land
The justices said the "open fields" doctrine, a sweeping exception to constitutional privacy protections, does not apply in the Keystone State.
If You Get Drunk and Brandish a Fake Gun in a Waymo, Don't Blame the Cameras
Firing a toy gun out of a camera-covered robotaxi while underage drinking was never going to end well.
Florida Police Officer Used Mass Surveillance Network to Stalk Romantic Interest
Newly published dashcam footage shows a sheriff’s deputy driving recklessly to pull over an actress he’d met while working on the set of the TV show Bad Monkey.
New Homeland Security Task Forces Target Immigrants Over Sex Work
The Trump administration is protecting Americans from an invasion of illicit handjobs.
The 5th Circuit Says a Houston Cop Reasonably Killed 2 Innocent People Falsely Accused of Selling Heroin
The officer's avowed reasons for killing Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas were contradicted by the physical evidence.
He Spent Over 80 Days in Jail After Florida Cops Arrested Him on Faulty Facial Recognition
Police have arrested at least 15 people in recent years based on bad facial recognition hits.
In Big Win for Fourth Amendment Advocates, the Supreme Court Says 'Geofence Warrants' Count as a 'Search'
Understanding Chatrie v. United States.
DOJ Case Against Minneapolis Antifa Groups Has Concerning First Amendment Implications
"This indictment appears to be going way overboard, using a sledgehammer to address what might have been some infractions."
Who Owns Your Data?
The Supreme Court could be poised to decide whether it's you or Big Tech companies.
Trump Says His Task Force Is Fighting a Foreign 'Invasion.' It's Busting Americans for Drugs Instead.
How Trump rebranded the war on drugs as a fight against illegal immigration
The Trump Administration Seriously Considered Unilaterally Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus
The proposal was nixed only after White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf explained why it was legally dubious.
Police Kill 1-Year-Old Boy by Shooting Into Car of Suspected Shoplifters
The suspects—his mother and aunt—were accused of shoplifting diapers from Walmart.
ACLU Sues After Facial Recognition Falsely Identifies Florida Man as a Child Abductor
Police arrested and charged Robert Dillon with a heinous crime based on nothing more than a faulty image search.
Lawsuit Says a Memphis Police Task Force Waged a Harassment Campaign Against People Who Filmed Them
The American Civil Liberties Union is asking a judge to block the Memphis Safe Task Force from retaliating against anyone who exercises their First Amendment right to record the police.
Trump's Immunity Deal Stinks Even More Than His Blatantly Corrupt 'Anti-Weaponization Fund'
An addendum to the president's "settlement" of his lawsuit against the IRS shields him and his family from liability for any federal offenses they committed prior to May 19.
Indiana Police Misplace More Than $30,000 Seized in Massage Parlor Raids
The raids took place after a detective with the state Protection for Abused and Trafficked Humans Law Enforcement Task Force got four penis massages.
Thomas and Alito Take a Regrettable Position in a Qualified Immunity Case
The two judicial conservatives continue to disappoint criminal justice reform advocates.
Leaked Plans Show School Buses Could Become Roaming Surveillance Vehicles
The documents reveal BusPatrol’s plan to equip tens of thousands of school buses with license plate readers and share the data with law enforcement.
The Other Vindictive Part of Kilmar Abrego Garcia's Case
A judge last week threw out a criminal indictment against him on the grounds that it was tainted by vindictiveness. But that same spirit infects another part of his story that few people have discussed.
Anti-Tech Extremism Worries the Same Federal Government That's Been Fueling Anti-Tech Extremism
Plus: Plan B for STIs, justifying "deadly force" to protect fertilized eggs, and more.
A SWAT Team Destroyed an Innocent Woman's Home. She's Been Waiting 6 Years for Justice.
Vicki Baker is more fortunate than several other similarly situated victims. But it took a very long time to get there.
It's Not Just ICE Stockpiling Weapons—the IRS, EPA, and Other Feds Are Arming Up Too
An armed IRS agent roaming the streets should send shivers down the spine of any freedom-loving American.
A State Assault Case Against an ICE Agent Could Illustrate the Limits of Supremacy Clause Immunity
That defense applies only when an officer "reasonably" believed he was acting within his federal authority.
Pennsylvania Family Says the DEA Battered Down Their Door While Raiding the Wrong Home
The family is suing the federal agency and their local police department for violating their Fourth Amendment rights.
Filming Cops Is a First Amendment Right. The Feds Keep Harassing People for It Anyway.
Most federal appeals courts have recognized the right to record police. DHS employees nevertheless seem to view it as a crime.
Samurai vs. Squatters: On the Street With the Hired Swords Reclaiming California Property Owners' Stolen Homes
California has failed to protect private property from squatters. Desperate owners are turning to katana-wielding enforcers to reclaim their homes.
Cops Get Qualified Immunity After Michigan Man Spends 13 Hours in Vomit and Dies in Jail
A court granted qualified immunity to all 11 deputies accused of violating John Griswold’s 14th Amendment rights.
He's a U.S. Citizen and Combat Veteran. ICE Tear-Gassed, Jailed, and Falsely Accused Him.
"I didn't do anything wrong," George Retes, a U.S. citizen imprisoned for three days, tells Reason.
A SCOTUS Case Exposes the Dangers of 2 Misguided Fourth Amendment Doctrines
"Geofence" searches illustrate the perilous combination of modern technology and deference to law enforcement.
By Dropping Her Criminal Probe of Jerome Powell, Jeanine Pirro Confirms Its Political Motivation
Even Republican critics of the Federal Reserve chairman's performance rejected the notion that he had broken the law by lying about the renovation of the central bank's headquarters.
The Correspondents' Dinner Shooting Is No Excuse for More Security Theater
Calls for more aggressive security measures evoke the post-9/11 security theater that brought us the TSA.
Advocates for Asian Massage Workers Decry 'Sexist, Racist' Raids in Seattle
Bothell police set out in search of sex trafficking and ended up shutting down five businesses for code violations.
Shooter Reportedly Targets Trump Officials at White House Correspondents' Dinner
Gunman subdued at security checkpoint.
