Civil Liberties
1,361 Articles

It Will Take More Than Body Cameras to Restore Trust in Law Enforcement
Editors’ Note: The following post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections,” in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous…

Judge Posner vs. David Cole: What’s the Value of Privacy Unless You Have Something to Hide? (Video Clip)
Yesterday, Just Security editor David Cole spoke with United States Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner about the value of privacy. The short and fascinating discussion, part…

The Senate Torture Report Should Name Victims
The Senate Intelligence Committee finally appears ready to release a redacted summary of its report on CIA torture and abuse of suspected terrorists. The release of this document…

Drone Courts: The Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem
A new chapter by Professors Amos Guiora and Jeffrey Brand–“Establishment of a Drone Court: A Necessary Restraint on Executive Power“–has been receiving…

The Hidden Costs of Alabama’s Anti-Foreign Law Measure
On Election Day last month, Alabama became the ninth state to impose onerous restrictions on how its courts can consider and apply foreign and international law. Those concerned…

Guest Post: NSA Reform — The Consequences of Failure
If you were expecting this to be a detailed post-mortem on the demise of the USA Freedom Act, you will be disappointed. As others have covered that ground, I want to focus on the…

Clarity or Confusion? General Comment 35 and Security Detention
I’d like to raise a few issues about security detention that Shaheed Fatima didn’t cover in her thoughtful posts (here and here) on the Human Rights Committee’s (HRC) new…

Transcript: The US Appearance Before the UN Committee on the Convention Against Torture
Below is a transcript of all national security issues discussed during the US delegation’s appearance before the UN’s Committee on the Convention Against Torture, prepared…

Takeaways from the House Intelligence Committee Cybersecurity Hearing
On Thursday morning, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held a hearing on “Cybersecurity Threats: The Way Forward,” featuring testimony by Adm. Michael Rogers,…

The Hicks Military Commission Appeal
Just over a year ago, I wrote a post about the David Hicks and Omar Khadr cases–and the very real possibility that, as a result of the D.C. Circuit’s decision in “Hamdan…

There Will Be Surveillance Reform
How should we understand the Senate’s failure to pass the USA Freedom Act on Tuesday? I’m not sure. But I’m pretty sure it’s misguided to propose, as Steve Vladeck did…

UN HRC’s General Comment on the Right to Liberty and Security: A Missed Opportunity? (Part Two)
Yesterday’s post provided a brief guide to the UN Human Rights Committee’s General Comment No. 35 (GC) on Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political…