Civil Liberties
1,474 Articles
Encryption Backdoors, Vault 7, and the Jurassic Park Rule of Internet Security
Surely without a hint of irony, just a day after WikiLeaks dumped a vault-load of documents detailing the Central Intelligence Agency’s use of hacking tools and software exploits,…
The “Travel Ban” Executive Order as Separation-of-Powers Test Case
The White House’s March 6 executive order “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States” (the March EO or the new EO) is a telling blend…
Three Problems with President Trump’s Guantánamo Tweet
In case you missed it, this morning’s tweetstorm from the White House began with this missive: 122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have…
Does Trump’s New Travel Ban Violate the Establishment Clause?
President Trump has signed a new travel ban. In some respects, the new executive order on immigration looks like the old one, which was held to be unconstitutional. So does the…
A Line-by-Line Comparison Between Trump’s Original Muslim Ban and Today’s
Want to know the difference between Trump’s last executive order and his latest? Data visualization specialist and longtime friend of Just Security, John Emerson, gave us…
Why the New Travel Ban Doesn’t Resolve the Old One’s Problems
This morning, President Donald Trump signed a revised executive order on immigration, designed to correct the deficiencies of the last one that several courts have put on hold.…
It Ain’t Easy Getting a FISA Warrant: I Was an FBI Agent and Should Know
In his latest round of twiplash, President Trump on Saturday leveled a very serious accusation: that President Obama had personally ordered the “tapping” of telephone lines…
Tapping Trump?
Once again, Donald Trump has kicked off a media firestorm with a series of early-morning Tweets, this time leveling the serious accusation that “President Obama had my ‘wires…
DO Believe the Hype: DHS’s “Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement” (VOICE) May Target Legal Immigrants Too
In his joint session to Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump highlighted a new immigration policy, which many, many, many mistakenly assume applies only to undocumented…
What’s at Stake When Trump Discredits the Press
Donald Trump’s relentless media bashing has become one of the most persistent tropes of his cacophonous early time in office. He and his administration have called the press…
War of the Worst Case Scenarios
A few nightmare scenarios haunt the dreams of civil libertarians—scenes drawn from our long and ignominious history of intelligence abuses. One—call it the Nixon scenario—is…
Norms Watch: Tracking the Erosion of Democratic Traditions (Feb. 17-24)
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the latest installment of Norms Watch, our series tracking both the flouting of democratic norms by the Trump administration and the erosion of…