Civil Liberties
1,369 Articles
The Increasingly Unsettling Indifference Toward the US Citizen “Enemy Combatant”
It’s now been over three weeks since an American citizen who is being held by the United States in military detention as an “enemy combatant” after allegedly…
How US Surveillance Helps Repressive Regimes—the Ethiopia Case
Recent stories from Edward Snowden’s disclosures show how the US government’s involvement with Ethiopia presents a case study in enabling repressive regimes to carry out…
Nominations Sought: Alexander Human Rights Prize (Oct. 1 Deadline)
Santa Clara University School of Law is seeking nominations of outstanding lawyers who might be candidates for the Alexander Law Prize, given annually by the Law School. Now in…
Facebook’s Silencing of Refugees Reveals Dangers of Censorship Technologies
Countless Rohingya refugees have tried to record the ethnic cleansing of their communities by turning to Facebook, the social network that promised to give a voice to the voiceless.…
Episode 37 of the National Security Law Podcast: Enemy Combatants, Agents of Foreign Powers
In this week’s episode, Bobby Chesney and I explore three big national security law developments from the past few days. First is that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court…
We Need to Know More About Government Searches of Travelers’ Electronic Devices
Relying on directives from the George W. Bush administration, U.S. border patrol and immigration officers have been subjecting travelers crossing U.S. borders to intrusive searches…
We Know a Lot More About U.S. Spying Since Section 702’s Last Reauthorization
As Congress finally starts to debate whether to reauthorize Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act before it expires at the end of this year, it’s important to remember that…
Want to Fight Crime? Increase Immigration and Save DACA
President Trump’s decision to end the DACA program and send hundreds of thousands of immigrants back into the shadows is cruel. But lost in the moral argument is the fact that…
Animus, Not Readiness: Trump & Mattis Move Full Steam Ahead on Unconstitutional Trans Military Ban
While it all started with an early morning tweet (as it so often does), this week President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis both took steps to enshrine Trump’s…
President Trump’s Hostility to the News Media: Reckless driving or premeditated assault?
On Tuesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, held a press conference at his headquarters in Geneva, intending to focus on systematic…
Just Another Mattis Pep Talk?: How “Hold the Line” speaks to civilian and military audiences
A video clip of Defense Secretary James Mattis speaking with troops deployed in Jordan has been making the rounds on various social media outlets, with varied and strong…
A Post-Charlottesville Reading List
Top image: A man makes a slashing motion across his throat toward counter-protesters as he marches with neo-Nazis and other rascist groups during the ‘Unite the Right’…