bill of rights

Austin Police Union Thug Wayne Vincent Threatens Peaceful Streets Project With Violence

"During a recent interview with the local Fox affiliate, KTBC, Austin Police Association President Wayne Vincent issued what appeared to be a threat of violence against Antonio Buehler and the Peaceful Streets Project. This threat comes on the heels of the Peaceful Streets Project's public announcement that they would increase downtown patrols to record Officer Nathan Wagner while on duty. Wagner is the APD cop that shot and killed Byron Carter in 2011." Continue reading →

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Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Questions on the Legality of Executive Assassination

"We’ve ruled out the AUMF. The Executive Order cited above hasn’t been rescinded. And no one can cite any changes in the laws governing assassination. But clearly, something has changed. And if the law hasn’t changed, then it must necessarily be that those laws have been reinterpreted to mean something they didn’t mean before. The question becomes – who reinterpreted them and by what authority did they do so? The answer to the first half of that question is easy – the unelected lawyers acting on behalf of the Bush and Obama administrations reinterpreted them. The second part is more difficult." Continue reading →

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Lawmaker wants to make it legal to record conversations with the feds

"Citing recent scandals across the federal government, a Republican lawmaker is pushing a new bill that would make it legal for Americans to record most conversations they have with employees of federal agencies. Under current law, people are only able to lawfully record certain in-person conversations with IRS officials. But under Jenkins proposal, that law would be expanded to allow people to record both in-person and phone conversations with most agencies in the executive branch. It would also require these government officials to tell people they have the right to record these conversations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLawmaker wants to make it legal to record conversations with the feds

NDAA Indefinite Detention Reinstated by Appeals Court

"The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the government Wednesday in vacating a permanent injunction sought by several prominent journalists and activists barring the enforcement of a provision of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In a 60-page decision, the court ruled against such an injunction additionally arguing that the case’s plaintiffs, which include Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and renowned linguist Noam Chomsky, among four others (collectively nicknamed 'The Magnificent Seven'), do not have standing." Continue reading →

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Mission Creep: When Everything Is Terrorism

"One of the assurances I keep hearing about the U.S. government's spying on American citizens is that it's only used in cases of terrorism. Terrorism is, of course, an extraordinary crime, and its horrific nature is supposed to justify permitting all sorts of excesses to prevent it. But there's a problem with this line of reasoning: mission creep. The definitions of 'terrorism' and 'weapon of mass destruction' are broadening, and these extraordinary powers are being used, and will continue to be used, for crimes other than terrorism. Even as the definition of terrorism broadens, we have to ask how far we will extend that arbitrary line." Continue reading →

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Were Snowden’s Actions Justified? Ellsberg, Mukasey Debate

"When Edward Snowden exposed the existence of some of the National Security Agency's intelligence gathering operations, did he help or harm America? Jeffrey Brown gets debate from Daniel Ellsberg, co-author of the famous internal Defense Department study 'The Pentagon Papers,' and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey." Continue reading →

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Government Attempts to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Wrongful Arrest, Psych Ward Detention of Facebook Marine

"'It’s bad enough that the government is targeting military veterans for expressing their discontent over America’s rapid transition to a police state, but for any government official to suggest that they shouldn’t be held accountable for violating a citizen’s rights on the grounds that they were unaware of the Constitution’s prohibitions makes a mockery of our so-called system of representative government,' said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGovernment Attempts to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Wrongful Arrest, Psych Ward Detention of Facebook Marine

Email exchange between Edward Snowden and former GOP Senator Gordon Humphrey

"I only wish more of our lawmakers shared your principles - the actions I've taken would not have been necessary. The media has distorted my actions and intentions to distract from the substance of Constitutional violations and instead focus on personalities. It seems they believe every modern narrative requires a bad guy. Perhaps, in such times, loving one's country means being hated by its government. If history proves that be so, I will not shy from that hatred. I will not hesitate to wear those charges of villainy for the rest of my life as a civic duty, allowing those governing few who dared not do so themselves to use me as an excuse to right these wrongs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEmail exchange between Edward Snowden and former GOP Senator Gordon Humphrey

Unitarian Church, Gun Groups Join EFF to Sue NSA Over Illegal Surveillance

"'People who hold controversial views – whether it's about gun ownership policies, drug legalization, or immigration – often must express views as a group in order to act and advocate effectively,' said Cohn. 'But fear of individual exposure when participating in political debates over high-stakes issues can dissuade people from taking part. That's why the Supreme Court ruled in 1958 that membership lists of groups have strong First Amendment protection. Telephone records, especially complete records collected over many years, are even more invasive than membership lists, since they show casual or repeated inquiries as well as full membership.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUnitarian Church, Gun Groups Join EFF to Sue NSA Over Illegal Surveillance

Grasping for Dignity in the Era of the American Police State

"In a judicial and bureaucratic environment in which human dignity has been given short shrift and largely discounted, the courts have increasingly erred on the side of giving government officials vast discretion in carrying out strip searches for a broad range of violations, no matter how minor the offense and no matter how degrading, demeaning or offensive to one’s human dignity the search is. Making matters worse, government agencies are increasingly exploiting cutting-edge technologies that allow probing and examination of the intimate aspects of persons that is for all intents and purposes equivalent to the excessive intrusion inflicted by a strip search." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGrasping for Dignity in the Era of the American Police State