donal brown

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on the issue of when it was allowable for state governments to block certain types of messages on license plates. One view holds that license plates qualify as government speech thus subject to control, another that they constitute a public forum that would necessarily preclude government censorship. The specific issue was whether Texas could stop the Sons of Confederate Veterans from putting a Confederate flag on their license plates.

The Obama administration must release photos showing abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan according to a federal court ruling. The administration has long tried to bury the disturbing images fearful that publication would result in terrorist attacks. The judge gave the government two months to decide on an appeal. (Associated Press, March 21, 2015, by Jennifer Peltz) The judge said a Defense Department certification from 2012 to bury the images was “deficient because it

The ACLU is filing a freedom of information lawsuit pertaining to the government’s targeted killings using drones. Thousands of suspected terrorists have been killed in several countries, but the public knows little about the program, how strikes are actually approved, their effectiveness including whether civilians are killed or injured and how citizens in the targeted countries view the U.S. (American Civil Liberties Union, March 16, 2015, by Matthew Spurlock) The ACLU lawsuit focuses on civilian

Cell site simulators – StingRay, KingFish – used by police around the country to intercept cell phone calls, operate in secrecy under FBI-sanctioned nondisclosure agreements with Harris Corporation, the manufacturer. A Santa Clara County (California) supervisor asked to approve a half million dollar down payment for StingRay was told “only people with badges” could see a demonstration of the product. The supervisor complained that so far he is not even allowed to see the nondisclosure