Police State

The Death of Privacy

"If the War on Drugs was an erosion of the Fourth Amendment, the 'War on Terror' sounded its death knell. The NSA’s warrantless domestic spying program has turned America into the most surveilled society in history, eclipsing conditions of East Germans under the Stasi. The government is illegally monitoring (in real time) activities not tethered to any suspicious or illegal conduct—for example, phone calls, purchases, email, text messages, Internet searches, social media communications, health information, employment history, travel, and student records—and creating dossiers on everyone (even senators, congressmen, and decorated generals)." Continue reading →

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Plead Guilty or Go to Prison for Life

"The efficient transformation of defendants into prisoners cannot be the standard by which we assess our criminal justice system. If the possibility of sending someone like Chris Williams to prison for the rest of his life is so obviously unfair, why does the law allow it, let alone mandate it?" Continue reading →

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Food Shortages in Venezuela Bigger Worry Than Constitution

"At a bustling food market in downtown Caracas, armed officers belonging to President Hugo Chavez’s National Bolivarian Guard marched by boxes of lettuce and tomatoes, checking prices and storage rooms. The inspection is part of a nationwide campaign to crack down on over-pricing and hoarding the government blames for shortages of basic goods, from toilet paper to sugar. The government said today that consumer prices in December jumped the most in 2 1/2 years, highlighting the growing economic problems that are amassing as Chavez’s battle with cancer unleashes a power struggle." Continue reading →

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Does Facebook Help the Prosecution, But Not Defense?

"[P]rosecutors generally have an easier time than defense attorneys getting private information out of Facebook and other social networks, as highlighted in an ongoing Portland murder case. In that case, the defense attorney has evidence of a Facebook conversation in which a key witness reportedly tells a friend he was pressured by police into falsely incriminating the defendant. Facebook rebuffed the defense attorney’s subpoena seeking access to the conversation, citing the federal Stored Communications Act, which protects the privacy of electronic communications like e-mail – but which carves out an exemption for law enforcement." Continue reading →

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Activists and family blame suicide of Aaron Swartz on overzealous prosecution

"Two years before the MIT incident, the FBI launched an investigation after Swartz released a trove of US federal court documents online that are usually only accessible at a fee through the government’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records, or PACER. In 2008, that fee was eight cents per page. In less than three weeks, he managed to download more than 18 million pages with an estimated value of $1.5 million to his home in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. Swartz had pleaded not guilty to charges of computer fraud, wire fraud and other crimes carrying a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine." Continue reading →

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DEA Raids Three LA Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

"DEA agents raided three Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries Wednesday afternoon, according to a preliminary report from Americans for Safe Access California director Don Duncan. More details were not forthcoming by press time. According to Duncan, the DEA struck LA Wonderland on West Pico Boulevard, the Downtown Collective on South Hill St. near downtown, and the Iron Works in Venice. The federal government has unleashed the DEA on dispensaries under both the Bush and the Obama administrations. One Southern California dispensary operator, Aaron Sandusky, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison just this Monday." Continue reading →

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Rapid DNA analyzers coming to every police station and TSA checkpoint in America

"According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, 'In the amount of time it takes to get lunch, the government can now collect your DNA and extract a profile that identifies you and your family members' using a device called a Rapid DNA Analyzer, which can 'process DNA in 90 minutes or less.' The EFF says these machines are not the imagination of science fiction writers. Rather, the group says they are 'an operational reality' and are currently being marketed to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies all around the nation. Well, what's the big deal? After you, you haven't done anything wrong - have you?" Continue reading →

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America Is Setting A Dangerous Precedent For The Drone Age

"Micah Zenko of the Council of Foreign Relations makes this argument in a new report: 'A major risk is that of proliferation. Over the next decade, the U.S. near-monopoly on drone strikes will erode as more countries develop and hone this capability. In this uncharted territory, U.S. policy provides a powerful precedent for other states and nonstate actors that will increasingly deploy drones with potentially dangerous ramifications.' Jim Michaels of USA Today reports that 75 countries, including Iran and China, have developed or acquired drone technology in the wake of America's prolific program." Continue reading →

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NYPD ‘looking into’ drones to survey crowds

"New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said on Thursday that his police force is 'looking into' using drones to survey demonstrations, reported DNAinfo. During an interview at the 92nd Street Y in New York City with Reuters News’ editor-in-chief, Kelly explained the need to look into 'anything that helps us,' although a drone program was not being aggressively pursued currently. He also discussed the department’s counter-terrorism programs and the fact that the force has privately paid officers in 11 cities worldwide to 'act as tripwires or listening posts for the city.'" Continue reading →

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