donal brown

The U.S. Supreme Court will enter uncharted waters when hearing U.S. v. Microsoft whether Microsoft can be forced to hand over data stored overseas. In 2013 the company found that contents of e-mail sought by the FBI in a drug case was stored in a data center in Ireland and refused to surrender it. (ABA Journal, February 2018, by Mark Walsh) Some argue that if the U.S. is successful in obtaining the data, it would

The Pentagon reversed itself, admitting it erred in ordering a stop to information about the war in Afghanistan that would measure the effectiveness of U.S. efforts. The military blamed human error for the problem and revealed that 44 percent of the country is either being contested or under Taliban control. (Associated Press, January 30, 2018, by Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor) The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction reported earlier in the week that

The U.S. Department of Justice is siding with conservative students in their lawsuit against UC Berkeley over cancellation of talks by right-wing speakers. The DOJ filed a statement of interest in the case supporting the students. (The San Jose Mercury News, January 26, 2018, by Emily Deruy) The Young America’s Foundation and the Berkeley College Republicans sued in April of 2017 for denying their free speech rights on campus. A university spokesperson said that the

An independent journalist who reports from crime scenes on Facebook found herself charged for releasing the name of a man who committed suicide before the official announcement. The Laredo Police Department said they recognized the right of free speech but also the right to privacy of the man’s family. (ABA Journal, January 25, 2018, by Debra Cassens Weiss) Many attorneys and legal experts said that the charges of misuse of official information against Priscilla Villarreal

A federal district judge ruled that public interest in obtaining judicial records in a lawsuit involving Jared Kushners’ business dealings in Maryland were of greater importance than his company’s privacy rights. The ruling could show how Kushner finances his real estate ventures. The judge ordered Kushner’s Westminster Management to reveal its partners by February 9. (ABC News, January 26, 2018, by Bernard Condon of The Associated Press) The judge found that Kushner Cos. did not