Liberty Act Presents Another “Fake Fix” To Controversial NSA Spying Program

With vague language, loopholes, and glaring omissions, the proposed USA Liberty Act — ostensibly intended to check exposed NSA spying abuses — is a toothless tiger, leaving in place practices that are squarely at odds with Fourth Amendment constitutional protections for ordinary citizens.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
A reflection of the Department of Homeland Security logo in the eyeglasses of a cybersecurity analyst at the watch and warning center of the Department of Homeland Security's secretive cyber defense facility in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Ever since Edward Snowden helped reveal the true extent of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) massive spying program, U.S. politicians have attempted to “fix” the program’s gross violations of the Fourth Amendment with legislation. While some legislative efforts were “fake fixes,” others were well-meaning but have fallen short, as legislators

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Court Cites Ignorance Of law In Excusing Officer For ‘Clearly Unreasonable Force’

The case creates a potentially insurmountable bar for anyone, who alleges they had their constitutional rights violated by a police officer.

Kevin Gosztola
By Kevin Gosztola
A Miami police officer stands guard during a campaign event with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the James L. Knight Center, Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, in Miami.

A federal appeals court ruled in favor of an officer in Colleyville, Texas, who used “excessive force” against an 18-year-old woman after police shot and killed her father. The court asserted the officer could not have known force was “clearly unreasonable” in this situation, given the “lack of guiding precedent,” and granted him immunity for his

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Court: Government May ‘Seize’ Citizens’ Fingerprints To Unlock Apple Devices

“If Apple’s move leads us to abandon knowledge-based authentication altogether, we risk inadvertently undermining the legal rights we currently enjoy under the Fifth Amendment.”

Kevin Gosztola
By Kevin Gosztola
An Apple employee instructs a journalist on the use of the fingerprint scanner technology built into the company's iPhone 5S during a media event in Beijing. Watchdog groups are concerned that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are searching the phones and other digital devices of international travelers at border checkpoints in U.S. airports. (AP/Ng Han Guan)

A federal court ruled the United States government is not violating a citizen’s Fifth Amendment rights when they require a citizen to apply his or her fingerprints to a sensor so authorities can access a device. The government sought authorization to “seize” four residents so their fingers could be applied to Apple devices in a home in order to

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Judge Slams ‘Incompetent’ Police Following Raid On Family’s Tomato Garden

A Federal judge declared raid on a family’s tomato garden was an “unjustified government intrusion based on nothing more than junk science.”

Justin Gardner
By Justin Gardner
Bob Harte displays the indoor garden his family cultivates. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Wichita, KS – In a “huge and significant victory for the Fourth Amendment,” the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a lawsuit brought by a Kansas City couple who endured a SWAT raid over their tomato plants. Robert and Adlynn Harte — and their two young children — were caught up in a county-wide sweep of suspected cannabis growers, in

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Newly Declassified Memos Reveal Extent Of NSA Spying Under Obama

New memos obtained by the ACLU via an FOIA request detail violations that occurred during the Obama administration which includes illegally surveilling people on U.S. soil.

ZeroHedge.com
By ZeroHedge.com
President Barack Obama, accompanied by, from left, Office of National Intelligence Director James Clapper, Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of State John Kerry, walks away from the podium after speaking at the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean, Va.,Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Back in May the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) found that the National Security Agency (NSA), under former President Obama, routinely violated American privacy protections while scouring through overseas intercepts and failed to disclose the extent of the problems until the final days before Donald Trump was elected president last

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Court Sides With Army In Undercover Infiltration Of Washington Anti-War Group

A Washington anti-war group claimed civilian employees of the Army violated their constitutional rights by infiltrating the group and facilitating their arrest.

MintPress News Desk
By MintPress News Desk
Activists sit down in front of a truck carrying military equipment thus taking control of the Port of Olympia entrance for the second time in 5 days. (Photo: Phoebe Blanding/olywip.org)

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment Tuesday against members of an anti-war group who claimed civilian employees of the Army violated their constitutional rights by infiltrating the group and facilitating their arrest. The Port Militarization Resistance protested the use of Washington state seaports to ship arms to Afghanistan and Iraq.

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