Civil liberties

The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday appealed the dismissal of its lawsuit challenging a government spying law as unconstitutional. The ACLU and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed the landmark lawsuit in July 2008 to stop the government from conducting surveillance under the FISA Amendments Act (FAA), which the ACLU says gives the executive branch virtually unchecked power to sweep up Americans' international e-mails and telephone calls. U.S. District Court Judge John Koeltl of the Southern District of New York dismissed the case in August on "standing" grounds, ruling that the plaintiffs did not have the right to challenge the new surveillance law ... Read Full Story

As proud as Americans are of the military , we have never wanted to militarize the country. It was certainly never the intent of the founders to give the federal government the power to use the military to enforce domestic law and order . Indeed, during the debate over ratification of the Constitution , the Federalist Papers assured Americans that the military would never be used against the American people . Besides a fear of the power that could accrue to the executive with this type of authority, Publius and company were concerned about the different functions of civil authorities and the military . ... Read Full Story

Riviera Beach , Florida is notable for its high level of poverty and a crime rate consistently higher than the national average. What better way to spruce up a city in the dumps, than rage war on baggy pants ? This week Riviera Beach is on the front line of the Baggy Pants War . The Good Taste Posse , also known as the Riviera Beach Police Department , have arrested eleven perps, who they had probable cause to believe were exposing more than two inches of their boxers: Since all of the offenders are black , you might jump to the conclusion this ... Read Full Story

The Pentagon is pushing for the authority to post 400,000 troops on the streets of America for active patrol in the event of an “emergency”. (The President will arbitrarily get to decide what qualifies as an “emergency”). This would violate the Posse Comitatus Act. Many state governors rightfully oppose the idea as the latest assault on states rights. The ACLU is on the correct side of this one: Mike German, the ACLU’s national security policy counsel, expressed amazement “that the military would propose such a broad set of authorities and potentially undermine a 100-year-old prohibition against the military in domestic law enforcement with no ... Read Full Story

                             Find Out the Truth About Anyone You Want to Know About! Today, you can find what you want to know about people from the.comfort of your own home, and at a fraction of the cost of hiring a private investigator. Get instant access to the same resources used by the federal governement, police detectives, and licensed private investigators by b.coming a Criminal Check member today. The Highest Quality Public Record Service Online Over 200 Million Records Databased And Growing! Currently there are over 6,000,000 in the U.S. that are in jail, prison, on probation or on parole. A large portion of these crimes ... Read Full Story

Proposition 69, is a controversial law that intrudes on civil liberties (ACLU, 2004). The Act expands criminal DNA databases and is unconstitutional (ACLU, 2004). The DNA Fingerprint, Unsolved Crime, and Innocence Protection Act , known as Proposition 69, allows state and local agencies to collect DNA samples from anyone arrested for a felony crime, including juveniles (BFS, 2004). The state of California approved the DNA Fingerprint, Unsolved Crime, and Innocence Protection Act , on November 2, 2004. Proposition 69 dangerously expands criminal databases, threatening civil liberties and social justices, while offering very little in ensuring safety to American citizens (Simoncelli & Steinhardt, 2006). According ... Read Full Story

The former head of MI5 Dame Stella Rimington has accused, not for the first time, the government of using the fear of terrorism to justify further restrictions of our civil liberties and right to privacy. Her words of wisdom even acknowledged that the people of this country felt they were living “ under a police state “. No arguments there then! In particular, Stella Rimington referred to the 42 day detention without charge and the intention of this government to force ID cards on the people . This revelation comes in the same week that the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 comes into force, whereby ... Read Full Story