Civil Liberties
1,474 Articles
Mass Surveillance and the Right to Privacy: Adding Nuance to the Schrems Case
Last week’s post by Megan Graham is certainly a welcome contribution in explaining the implications of the Max Schrems case by the European Union Court of Justice, and specifically…
The False Choice of Opposing Torture or Endless War: A Response to Samuel Moyn
In a thoughtful guest post Samuel Moyn has continued and deepened a debate we began in the pages of the current issue of Dissent on the relative merits of opposing war itself and…
Too Much Posturing and Not Enough Substance on Encryption
Obama administration officials revealed late last week that will not force technology firms to weaken digital encryption to give government greater access to user data. This is…
Public Access to Military Trials: The Increasingly Strange Case of Sergeant Bergdahl
I still don’t know what to make of the government’s case against Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl (of Taliban detainee transfer fame) for charges of desertion and misbehavior before…
The Special Rapporteur on Torture’s Report on Extraterritoriality Speaks to Migrant Crisis
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan E. Méndez, has issued a new expert’s report (his 17th)—this one on extraterritoriality. (JustSecurity’s extensive…
Adding Some Nuance on the European Court’s Safe Harbor Decision
Yesterday, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a decision about European data protection laws as they relate to data transfers to the US. While there have been a number…
Congressional Due Process Failure: A Benghazi Example
The consequences of congressional scrutiny can be profound for the subjects of lawmakers’ investigations, yet the second Congress calls, almost none of the safeguards of the…
The Bass-Ackwards Detainee Transfer Provision in the FY2016 NDAA
There’s a lot to say about the 1,915-page National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2016 that was unveiled yesterday by the House and Senate Armed Services…
A Proposal to Improve Foreign Law Enforcement Access to US-Held Data
In my last post, I reviewed a number of proposals to reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). These proposals are aimed at delimiting law enforcement access to…
Video from The Going Dark Debate: Just Security’s Second Anniversary
As consumers increasingly adopt encryption tools, government officials have warned of the “Going Dark” problem – the notion that widespread encryption will thwart legitimate…
Charlie Hebdo and Hate Speech: Don’t Prosecute the Messenger
Nine months after their offices were attacked by Muslim extremists, Charlie Hebdo’s cartoonists are facing calls for prosecution for allegedly inciting hatred through cartoons…
Six National Security Questions Presidential Candidates Should Have To Answer
A lot of ink has already been spilled on Carly Fiorina’s … strange … focus in last week’s Republican debate on expanding the (already massive) Sixth Fleet as one of the…