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surveillance

Opinion: Government use of global tracking can adversely affect free speech rights

donal brown November 15, 2011

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling next spring  in United States v. Jones involving police warrantless use of a GPS tracking device could have wide ranging effect on the rights to association and free speech, writes Gene Policinski for the First Amendment Center. “The freedom to associate with others of similar and perhaps unpopular views, and to share controversial political or social concepts, fuels the marketplace of ideas that is essential to a democratic republic. It’s

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Open government: Senators propose bill on secret expansion of Patriot Act powers

donal brown July 28, 2011

A bill proposed by Senators Roy Wyden and Mark Udall would require the U.S. intelligence chief to admit to interpreting the Patriot Act to give the government massive domestic surveillance powers not granted by Congress. In a letter last week to Wyden and Udall, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper admitted to the secret legal interpretations and pledged to make the interpretations public. In their proposal, Wyden and Udall wrote, “It is critical that officials

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Espionage Act: Washington Post questions charges against former government employee

donal brown June 6, 2011

Justice Department prosecutors are trying Thomas Drake, a former employee of the National Security Agency, for violation of the Espionage Act after Drake talked to a Baltimore Sun reporter about a program he thought was wasting billions of taxpayer dollars. A Washington Post editorial argues that the indictment and proposed punishment are not proportionate to the alleged crime. -db From a Washington Post editorial, June 5, 2011.

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FBI chief: Surveillance rules not based on race, faith

FAC July 29, 2010

FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress yesterday that the bureau’s domestic-surveillance guidelines were being used properly and that agents were not employing them to target people for investigation on the basis of race. July 29, 2010 By The Associated Press WASHINGTON–The FBI director’s defense of the guidelines at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing followed criticism by civil liberties groups that the guidelines unfairly target innocent Muslims. The guidelines “do not target based on race,” Mueller

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Federal court allows New York police to keep convention surveillance records secret

donal brown June 10, 2010

The New York City Police Department won a victory as the 2nd Circuit panel ruled that it did not have to release police surveillance records gathered before the 2004 Republican National Convention. The panel found in this case that police privilege trumped the public’s right to know. -db Courthouse News Service June 9, 2010 By Nick Divito (CN) – New York City can keep secret 1,800 pages of undercover police surveillance records gathered in the

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