PHOENIX, Ariz. (March 23, 2017) – Today, an Arizona Senate committee voted unanimously to pass a bill reforming the state’s asset forfeiture laws. The bill also takes on federal forfeiture programs by banning prosecutors from circumventing state laws by passing cases off to the feds in most situations. Rep. Eddie Farnsworth (R-Gilbert) introduced House Bill…
"Findings from the report reveal that consumers would entrust the running of the country to robots. 66 percent of UK citizens expect that robots will be working within the government by 2037, with 16 percent believing this could happen in the next one to two years. A further finding which may cause concern for Number 10 is that one in four think robots will make better decisions that elected government representatives, mainly in regards to the economy." Continue reading →
In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I talk about police militarization. Last week, I got an email from the Department of Defense. It was a response to an article I wrote for the Tenth Amendment Center on an Oregon bill to help limit militarization of state and local police. Susan Lowe in the…
PIERRE, S.D. (Mar. 23, 2017) – A South Dakota bill that would have legalized the production and processing of industrial hemp for commercial purposes, and set the foundation to end federal prohibition in practice, was killed by a Senate committee. The Committee on State Affairs introduced House Bill 1204 (HB1204) on Feb. 3. Under the…
"Congress as a whole has been more intent on protecting the government from insider leaks than protecting the public from government surveillance. The tension between privacy and government surveillance is one that runs central to the ongoing debate over the CIA and NSA’s data collection tactics, as well as the potential Homeland Security policy that aims to refocus efforts to target 'insider threats.'" Continue reading →
"Data provided by the Department of Homeland Security shows that searches of cellphones by border agents has exploded, growing fivefold in just one year, from fewer than 5,000 in 2015 to nearly 25,000 in 2016. According to DHS officials, 2017 will be a blockbuster year. Five-thousand devices were searched in February alone, more than in all of 2015. 'That's shocking,' said Mary Ellen Callahan, former chief privacy officer at the Department of Homeland Security. She wrote the rules and restrictions on how CBP should conduct electronic searches back in 2009. 'That [increase] was clearly a conscious strategy, that's not happenstance.'" Continue reading →
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (March 22, 2017) – Yesterday, an Illinois House committee passed a bill that would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws to prohibit the state from taking property without a criminal conviction in some situations. The legislation also takes on federal forfeiture programs by banning prosecutors from circumventing state laws by passing cases off…
LANSING, Mich. (March 22, 2017) – Yesterday, a Michigan House committee passed a resolution that would put before voters a state constitutional amendment to protect electronic communications and data from the prying eyes of state and local law enforcement. The amendment would also effectively block a small but intrusive practical effect of federal spying within…
OLYMPIA, Wash. (Mar. 22, 2017) – Today, a Washington Senate committee unanimously passed a bill that would remove industrial hemp from the state’s “controlled substances” list. Passage into law would set the stage for people in the Evergreen State to nullify federal prohibition on the plant in practice. Rep. Matt Shea (R-Spokane Valley) and a…
PHOENIX, Ariz. (March 22, 2017) – On Monday, a bill that would ban the use of “stingrays” to track the location of phones and sweep up electronic communications without a warrant in most situations cleared its final committee. The proposed law would not only protect privacy in Arizona, but would also hinder one aspect of the…