"We can pretend that the Constitution is still our governing document. However, the reality we must come to terms with is that in the America we live in today, the government does whatever it wants, freedom be damned. Here is what it means to live under the Constitution today."
"Multiple students were subjected to invasive and outright horrifying body searches during a mass — and warrantless — search for drugs at a South Georgia high school. Attorney Mark Begnaud, who filed the class-action lawsuit, called out the sheriff for conducting '900 illegal, suspicionless searches.' To highlight the sheer unnecessary police state tactics of the tyrannical Worth County Sheriff Jeff Hobby and his deputies — not a single bit of contraband was found."
"Said Rudd, 'There is currently a gap in the law around material [that] is viewed or streamed from the internet without being permanently downloaded.'"
"In a stunning setback to federal prosecutors planning to try the Bundy family patriarch and two adult sons later this year, the jury acquitted Ricky Lovelien and Steven Stewart of all 10 charges, and delivered not-guilty findings on most charges against Scott Drexler and Eric Parker. More than 30 defendants' supporters in the courtroom broke into applause after Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro ordered Lovelien and Stewart freed immediately and set Wednesday morning hearings to decide if Parker and Drexler should remain jailed pending a government decision whether to seek a third trial."
"In what is shaping up to be a contentious battle over privacy rights and free speech, the Department of Justice has formally requested that web hosting firm ‘DreamHost’ turn over 1.3 million IP addresses and other information to ‘unmask‘ visitors to the anti-Trump Antifa website ‘disruptj20.org,’ as part of the investigation into crimes committed on and around January 20 by protesters. DreamHost has challenged the request, claiming the scope of data requested violates the first and fourth amendments because it is too broad."
"Allowing government agents to simply search a U.S. citizen’s contacts, social media, videos and everything else in search of a crime doesn’t feel American because it isn’t."
"For many of those attacking the ACLU here, it is a staple of their worldview that the U.S. is a racist and fascist country and that those who control the government are right-wing authoritarians. There is substantial validity to that view. Why, then, would people who believe that simultaneously want to vest in these same fascism-supporting authorities the power to ban and outlaw ideas they dislike?"
"Critics were quick to call for a nationwide conversation when President Trump first ordered an accelerated rollout of the $1 billion face search technology in his travel ban, and have been growing louder now that the trial program is expanding." Continue reading →
"Pompeo argued that the US needs to use the Espionage Act much more in going after leakers who aren’t actually foreign spies. President Trump had a positive attitude toward WikiLeaks during last year’s campaign, declaring 'I love WikiLeaks.'" Continue reading →
"Senate Bill 1241 requires that anyone travelling beyond US borders declare his assets in writing and in detail, plus provide ongoing access to all accounts held by the individual. In essence, it’s providing the government with a license to track your cash, cryptocurrencies, and other assets in perpetuity. Should, at any point, your declaration come into question as to its accuracy, the entirety of those assets could be seized, not just those that were unreported. In addition, you could face a prison sentence of up to five years." Continue reading →