Police State

Is this Sandpoint, Idaho — or Soviet Russia?

"Rita Hutchens is a 57-year-old quilt artist from Sandpoint, Idaho. Until two years ago, she had never experienced trouble with the police. After checking on a rental property, Rita was followed home by an officer who assaulted her and arrested her without cause. The resisting and obstructing charge against Rita was thrown out of court by a judge who recognized that there was no legal cause for the police officer to be on Rita’s property or lay hands on her. She is now enduring a campaign of undisguised harassment and persecution from city and county officials that has included a midnight police raid on her home and an order that she undergo a psychiatric evaluation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs this Sandpoint, Idaho — or Soviet Russia?

Leniency for a Uniformed Sexual Predator

"In November 2010, 17-year-old Utah resident Tamsen Reid was stopped by former Box Elder County, Utah, Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Womack. She and her two friends were told to get out of the car, stand barefoot in the snow, and submit to an invasive search. Womack told them to lift their shirts and expose their breasts so he could search for tattoos and body piercings. Reid was singled out for special attention. Womack told her to get in the back of his patrol vehicle, remove her clothes, and spread her legs so he could inspect her for an intimate tattoo. When the teenager refused, Womack warned her that she could either submit or be taken to jail." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLeniency for a Uniformed Sexual Predator

The Murder of David Sal Silva

"A mob of nine men beat David Sal Silva, 33, to death in Bakersfield, California, last week. They hogtied him, bashed his head with batons, picked him up and then dropped him at least twice as he screamed and pleaded for his life. They committed this crime openly – I would say in broad daylight, except that it was around midnight. Nonetheless, they slaughtered Mr. Silva on a fairly busy road, across the street from a hospital and in view of the neighborhood’s residents and passers-by. Where are the cops in all this? Protecting their own: the nine killers are sheriffs from Kern County." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Murder of David Sal Silva

California cops defend seizing video depicting fatal beating case

"Authorities in Kern County, California are defending themselves against criticism for confiscating cell phone video of seven sheriff’s deputies’ fatal encounter with a 33-year-old man. But witnesses to the May 8 incident involving the deputies and 33-year-old David Silva said deputies overstepped their bounds in gathering that evidence. A witness told the Bakersfield Californian that two detectives entered her apartment to seize video taken by her boyfriend and blocked the entrance, then demanded her mother’s phone. Another witness gave the family surveillance footage taken near the site of the encounter that shows deputies hitting Silva with their nightsticks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia cops defend seizing video depicting fatal beating case

Phone Records of AP Journalists Seized by U.S. Government

"Federal investigators secretly seized two months of phone records for reporters and editors of The Associated Press in what the news organization said Monday was a 'serious interference with A.P.’s constitutional rights to gather and report the news.' The A.P. said that the Justice Department informed it on Friday that law enforcement officials had obtained the records for more than 20 telephone lines of its offices and journalists, including their home phones and cellphones. It said the records were seized without notice sometime this year. The organization was not told the reason for the seizure." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPhone Records of AP Journalists Seized by U.S. Government

FBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

"The FBI has some strange ideas about how to 'update' federal surveillance laws: They’re calling for legislation to penalize online services that provide users with too much security. The FBI’s misguided proposal would impose costly burdens on thousands of companies (and threaten to entirely kill those whose business model centers on providing highly secure encrypted communications), while making cloud solutions less attractive to businesses and users. It would aid totalitarian governments eager to spy on their citizens while distorting business decisions about software design. Perhaps worst of all, it would treat millions of law-abiding users as presumed criminals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

FBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

"The FBI has some strange ideas about how to 'update' federal surveillance laws: They’re calling for legislation to penalize online services that provide users with too much security. The FBI’s misguided proposal would impose costly burdens on thousands of companies (and threaten to entirely kill those whose business model centers on providing highly secure encrypted communications), while making cloud solutions less attractive to businesses and users. It would aid totalitarian governments eager to spy on their citizens while distorting business decisions about software design. Perhaps worst of all, it would treat millions of law-abiding users as presumed criminals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

FBI Monitors G-Mail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Facebook Accounts

"If you store your emails for over 180 days, the FBI says it can legally monitor them without a warrant. It took a Freedom of Information Act inquiry to find this out. This defies a ruling made in 2010 by a federal appeals court. An FBI 'Operations Guide' makes exemptions for any email that stored by a service provider for more than 180 days. G-mail is a third party. Outlook isn’t. The FBI has to get a warrant to look at Outlook emails. I use Outlook. I don’t use G-mail. I never have. Why not? Because of exactly this reason. I did not want a third party to store my emails. In a statement, the FBI insisted its methods are constitutional." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI Monitors G-Mail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Facebook Accounts

FBI Monitors G-Mail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Facebook Accounts

"If you store your emails for over 180 days, the FBI says it can legally monitor them without a warrant. It took a Freedom of Information Act inquiry to find this out. This defies a ruling made in 2010 by a federal appeals court. An FBI 'Operations Guide' makes exemptions for any email that stored by a service provider for more than 180 days. G-mail is a third party. Outlook isn’t. The FBI has to get a warrant to look at Outlook emails. I use Outlook. I don’t use G-mail. I never have. Why not? Because of exactly this reason. I did not want a third party to store my emails. In a statement, the FBI insisted its methods are constitutional." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI Monitors G-Mail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Facebook Accounts

911 And Witness Calls Of David Silva Beating And Murder By Eight Cops

"Kern County deputies beat an intoxicated man to death in the street Tuesday night, then detained and intimidated witnesses, confiscated video evidence, and arrested another man who spoke out. David Silva was beaten with batons, left in a pool of blood until an ambulance finally arrived after he was already dead. Witnesses, including Melissa Quair, were harassed and told that they must surrender their cell phones as 'evidence.' Their houses were even searched as a crime scene in order to confiscate the video evidence." Continue reading →

Continue Reading911 And Witness Calls Of David Silva Beating And Murder By Eight Cops