IRS Now Blocking 362,000+ Americans From Getting Passports
"The stated purpose of the bill was 'to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, and for other purposes.'"
Americans Now Can’t Leave the U.S. Without IRS Permission
"In turning to greater use of emigration controls, the US is embracing ever greater control of its domestic population and its resources. Such oversight of US citizens, however, was almost completely unknown in the nineteenth century."
Federal court: TSA agents can’t be sued for false arrests, abuse, or assault
"According to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, TSA officials have sovereign immunity while working in their official functions as screeners and security agents under the Federal Tort Claims Act."
Stolen Air Force drone manuals available for $200 on the dark web
"The hacker told Recorded Future that he frequently 'entertains' himself by watching live streams of sensitive footage from airplanes and border surveillance cameras."
Alabama ends policy giving inmate food funds directly to sheriffs
"Following backlash over officials pocketing thousands of dollars in excess funds for their own personal use, Ivey withdrew the policy of 'paying prisoner food service allowances directly to sheriffs in their personal capacities' in a memo to the state comptroller, The Associated Press reported."
Town officials ruined a man’s life for complaining about police abuse
"The 'lesson' Finley learned here is pretty clear. Power usually wins."
European link tax, compulsory copyright scanning sent back to the drawing board
"The law will now be sent for a full reconsideration and debate inside the parliament, during which activists will try and remove the controversial Article 11 and 13. Article 11 has been referred to by campaigners as instituting a 'link tax', by forcing tech companies like Google and Facebook to pay to use snippets of content on their own sites. Article 13 adds rules that make tech companies responsible for ensuring any copyrighted material is not spread over their platforms. Those rules could force technology companies to scan through everything their users post and check it doesn't include copyrighted material."
California: Laws That Are ‘Impossible’ to Follow Can Still Be Constitutional
"Just because a law is impossible to follow is not enough of a reason for a court to throw it out. So California's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday."
Kidnappers: The Tyranny of Child Protective Services Across the Nation
"A Clinton era federal law called the Adoption of Safe Families Act hands out federal funds to states based on the number of children the state takes from parents."
The Supreme Court’s Deference to the Pentagon
"The national-security establishment has become the most powerful part of the federal government, one to which the judicial branch (as well as the other two branches) inevitably defers in matters that are critically important to the Pentagon, the CIA, or the NSA."