Civil Liberties
1,368 Articles
The Government’s Initial Supreme Court Filing on the Section 215 “Telephony Records Program”
On Friday the government filed its brief in opposition to the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s mandamus petition to the Supreme Court, No. 13-58, in which EPIC is challenging…
Al-Libi: Nine (or Fewer) Days of AUMF Detention
So reports the Associated Press: “U.S. officials say a Libyan terrorist suspect who was held aboard a U.S. warship is now in the United States.” That would mean that…
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Approves Renewal of “Telephony Records Program” [UPDATED]
Judge Eagan’s latest Section 215 metadata order for the FISC expired last Friday. The government sought renewal, and the FISC has approved it, reports the Director of National…
Other Uses of the NSA Call Records Database—Fingerprinting Burners?
We’ve now heard in some detail about how the NSA made use of its vast database of call records to investigate links between terror suspects via “contact chaining”…
The Case of Abu Anas al-Libi: The Domestic Law Issues
It is now well-known that Abu Anas al-Libi was seized in front of his home in Tripoli on Saturday, October 5 and transported to a U.S. ship in the Mediterranean, where he is reportedly…
Government Shutdown Postpones Declassification Review of FISC Opinion
Today, the FISC granted the government’s motion to delay a declassification review of prior FISC opinions regarding the legality of Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Contrary…
Al-Liby: “Rendition to Justice” under Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
The U.S. government is reportedly holding Abu Anas al-Liby (Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai) on a Navy ship following a military-led apprehension in Tripoli on October 5. The capture…
The Interface of IHL and IHR: A Taxonomy
As the excellent Jinks/Corn/Rona series on IHL/IHR notes, there are a number of theories surrounding the interface between international humanitarian law (or the law of armed conflict)…
Al-Liby: Male Captus, Bene Detentus?
Further to Marty’s post today on the question of Libya’s consent vel non to the recent al-Liby operation, we should also call attention to a long-withheld OLC opinion (13 U.S.…
Selective Disclosure About Targeted Killing
For several years, the ACLU has been pressing the Obama administration to be more transparent about the targeted-killing program. I’m starting to wonder whether it understands…
“Relevance” at the Royale Inn
The NSA’s controversial call records program is predicated on the extraordinary premise that the phone logs of nearly all Americans are “relevant” to an intelligence…
NSA Bulk Collection, the “Corporate Store,” and the Forgotten ECPA Loophole
This weekend’s New York Times report on NSA aggregation of large databases to map the social networks of US citizens contains a reminder that the vast bulk phone records…