"An anti-NSA surveillance nationwide protest and online campaign was triggered on Thursday. It aimed to restore the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which protects US citizens from 'unreasonable searches and seizures.'" Continue reading →
"The Domestic Surveillance Project division of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) announced Thursday that it plans to file a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Court (FISC) ruling which authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to collect metadata on domestic phone calls. Domestic Surveillance Project Director Amie Stepanovich made the announcement at a Restore the Fourth rally in Washington on Thursday, one of several rallies across the country dedicated to protesting the NSA’s sweeping spying programs and invoke the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures." Continue reading →
"In 2000, the US Supreme Court ruled that warrantless narcotics checkpoints in Indiana were unconstitutional. Police in at least two states have responded by setting up fake checkpoints, and then stopping motorists who seek to avoid them. Police in Mayfield Heights, Ohio are now using the same tactic by placing 'Drug Checkpoint Ahead' signs in the express lanes of Interstate 271. Although such checkpoints are illegal, observes Professor Ric Simmons of Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, lying about one is not, because police 'can lie to anybody.'" Continue reading →
"Eventually history will tell the story of how Edward Snowden came out and revealed the extent to which the feds - under the guise of protecting us from terrorism - were laying the foundation for a police state. This was deeply disturbing to thoughtful people...if there were any...who feared the rise of an all-knowing, all-powerful Big Brother, from whom no secrets are kept, from whom no desires are hidden. And it was disturbing too to the Big Brothers themselves. They insisted on knowing everything about everybody else's business. But they made it a crime to reveal what they were up to! In short, nobody likes a snitch...and a snoop especially dislikes a snitch." Continue reading →
"Thirty inmates at a St. Louis jail want to join a class-action lawsuit saying they were forced into a 'gladiator-style' fight club — all for the amusement of guards. The potential for additional plaintiffs comes a year after the original suit was filed against the city and alleges a systemic problem at the Medium Security Institution, which is nicknamed the Workhouse. 'What was happening was the guards were actually taking inmates out of the cells, placing them in cells with other inmates and forcing them to fight each other,' Brown told St. Louis radio station KMOX. The station said the city has filed a response denying the allegations." Continue reading →
"Two female inmates have sued a Texas county and three former jailers for running what they said was a 'rape camp' at the county jail. In a court filing obtained by Courthouse News Service, inmates J.A.S. and J.M.N name Live Oak County and former jailers Vincent Aguilar, Israel Charles Jr. and Jaime E. Smith as defendants. Although the three guards were arrested in 2010 on charges of sexual assault and are now serving time in Texas state prisons, the women have brought to light new disturbing details about the abuse. They are seeking punitive damages for civil rights violations, assault and emotional distress." Continue reading →
"Anyone who is following the situation in the Golden State at all closely has seen a numbing litany of reports of dispensaries forced out of business, including from some of the most venerable, respected, and law-abiding operations in the state. What had been the occasional raid or prosecution by the DEA or federal prosecutors during the early years of the Obama administration has turned into a heightened onslaught since the issuance of the notorious Cole memo, written by Assistant Attorney General James Cole, two years ago next week and the announcement by California's four US Attorneys that fall that they were declaring open season on dispensaries." Continue reading →
"The Houston Chronicle reported that the suit names Trooper Nathaniel Turner, who claimed he smelled marijuana in the car and called a female trooper even though a 'search and seizure was highly unreasonable.' The suit also names the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, responding officer Brazoria County Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Kindred and the Brazoria County sheriff. In dashcam footage, Hamilton can be heard saying 'Do you know how violated I feel?' to Trooper Jennie Bui as she was searched. Randle said that the she only had one glove that was used to search both of them." Continue reading →
"Chief justice of the U.S. is a pretty big job. You lead the Supreme Court conferences where cases are discussed and voted on. You preside over oral arguments. When in the majority, you decide who writes the opinion. You get a cool robe that you can decorate with gold stripes. Oh, and one more thing: You have exclusive, unaccountable, lifetime power to shape the surveillance state. The 11 FISA judges, chosen from throughout the federal bench for seven-year terms, are all appointed by the chief justice. In fact, every FISA judge currently serving was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts, who will continue making such appointments until he retires or dies." Continue reading →
"This money will be used to create what John McCain calls 'the most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall,' staffed by at least 38,405 Border Patrol agents. That’s a larger force than George W. Bush had stationed in Afghanistan when he left office. No wonder it’s been called the 'border surge.' Those agents will be armed with billions of dollars worth of equipment from America’s leading war profiteers. As usual, militarization means obscene corporate profits at taxpayer expense. Moreover, increasing 'border security' funding means expanding an agency whose members routinely violate civil liberties and have even committed murder." Continue reading →