Matthew Heller

Calif. Terror Suspect Launches New Bid To Overturn “Preemptive” Conviction

A man convicted of intending to commit a future terrorist crime has filed court papers arguing his trial lawyer was too fresh out of law school to offer competent counsel.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller
Umer Hayat

LOS ANGELES --- It's been nearly seven years since Hamid Hayat, the American-born son of a Pakistani ice cream truck driver, was sentenced to 24 years in prison by a Sacramento, Calif., judge for intending to wage violent jihad. Hayat, who allegedly attended a jihadi training camp in Pakistan, had been indicted under a law that makes it a

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NSA Bulk Phone Records Collection Cases Edge Toward Supreme Court

The plaintiffs vary, but their complaint is largely the same: the NSA overstepped its bounds and illegally collected their phone records and metadata.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller

LOS ANGELES --- At first glance, a San Diego cab driver serving 18 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist group has little in common with members of the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles. But both Basaaly Moalin and church members claim the National Security Agency illegally intruded on their electronic

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Senate Report May Back Alleged CIA Torture Victim’s Claim Against African Nation

Sources close to the report claim Djibouti along with several other African nations are listed as hosting “black site” facilities that were alleged to hold illegal CIA detainees.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller

LOS ANGELES -- A still-classified U.S. Senate report may provide a timely boost for the human rights case of a Yemeni national who claims he was imprisoned and tortured in Djibouti more than 10 years ago as part of the CIA's secret rendition program. The Senate has been investigating the program, which, according to Mohammed al-Asad, was

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Tesla Founder Launches Challenge to $9.5B Rocket Launch Contract

Claiming his company, SpaceX, could potentially save the U.S. government hundreds of millions dollars if given the chance to bid on contracts, Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller
elon musk battles fake news with pravda

LOS ANGELES -- Tesla Motors founder and private space exploration entrepreneur Elon Musk is taking on the military-industrial complex, alleging in a lawsuit that the federal government unfairly awarded a $9.5 billion contract for rocket launch services to a joint venture of aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Musk's Space Exploration

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Bid To Revive Affirmative Action In Calif. Roils Asian Americans

Groups of Asian Americans have come forward to stop an effort to reinstitute affirmative action at California’s public universities, claiming the proposed change would be detrimental to Asian American students.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller

LOS ANGELES -- Eighteen years after California approved a landmark ballot measure to ban affirmative action, the nation's most diverse state is wrestling again with how to boost the representation of minorities on the campuses of its public universities. In January, the state Senate passed a bill proposing a constitutional amendment that would

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License Plate Readers: Another Step Toward “Big Brother” Surveillance?

Automated license plate readers aid in arrests and other police work, but civil liberties activists and advocates see the technology as a “serious” threat to privacy.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller

LOS ANGELES --- The man suspected of taking potshots at vehicles on Kansas City highways from March 18 to April 6 may now be in custody largely because digital cameras mounted atop police cruisers had randomly taken pictures of an Illinois license plate at least four times. After a witness saw the driver of a green Dodge Neon behaving

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Another Fatal Police Shooting Adds To Storm Over Albuquerque Cops

An Albuquerque police officer fatally shoots a judge’s daughter, adding momentum to criticism of the Albuquerque Police Department’s history of excessive and deadly force.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller

With the ink barely dry on a U.S. Department of Justice report slamming Albuquerque police for their frequent use of excessive and lethal force, the New Mexico city is now reeling from its third officer-involved shooting in little more than a month -- one that killed the 19-year-old foster daughter of a retired judge. Mary Hawkes' death has

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