Civil Liberties
1,368 Articles
How the Second Circuit’s Decision in Clapper Informs the Section 215 Discussion
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
Candidates, Senators, and Surveillance: The Stakes
In the wake of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruling that the Patriot Act’s Section 215 metadata program is illegal, former Senator (and now presidential candidate)…
The Substance of the Second Circuit on 215: Four Key Takeaways
[Cross-posted at ACSblog] Yesterday the Second Circuit declared the NSA’s bulk telephone metadata program unlawful. Specifically, it ruled that it was unauthorized by section…
The Second Circuit and the Politics of Surveillance Reform
I have very little to add to Marty’s analysis of Judge Lynch’s opinion for a unanimous Second Circuit panel holding that the NSA’s bulk telephone metadata program…
[UPDATED with details and analysis] BREAKING: Second Circuit rules that Section 215 does not authorize telephony bulk collection program
[UPDATED] The opinion is here. Judge Sack’s concurring opinion is here. Because the court rules on statutory grounds, it does not reach the Fourth Amendment questions.…
USA Freedom Act: An Updated Readers’ Guide on Section 215
For the last several weeks, Congress has been discuss reforms to Section 215 of the Patriot Act, a provision that has been used to justify the collection of vast quantities…
The Counterterrorism Stances of the UK’s Major Political Parties
On Thursday, May 7, 2015, voters will go to the polls in the UK’s general election. With that in mind, it’s worth reviewing the domestic terrorism and extremism related-measures…
The Government (Sort of) Wins a Guantánamo Military Commission Appeal
No, not that one. In a two-page order issued this morning, the D.C. Circuit (Tatel, Griffith, & Silberman, JJ.) dismissed the appeal of former Guantánamo detainee Ibrahim…
USA Freedom and the Surveillance Reform That Almost Was
Committee markups can be a dry affair, an opportunity for political showboating, or both. Yesterday’s markup of the USA Freedom Act in the House Judiciary Committee was neither.…
The Intelligence Time Machine
On Tuesday, members in the House and Senate introduced new versions of the USA Freedom Act that would prohibit bulk collection of records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act,…
The Minimalist Surveillance Reforms of USA Freedom
On April 30, the House Judiciary Committee will take up a warmed-over version of last year’s USA Freedom Act. The committee has offered a rather optimistic claim of the surveillance…
Encryption, Anonymity, and the “Right to Science”
“The right to science is sometimes considered a prerequisite for the realization of a number of other human rights.” – Farida Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on the field…