Civil Liberties
1,474 Articles
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…
Senator McConnell’s Modest Proposal to Reform Section 215: Don’t!
With only 14 legislative days remaining (in the House, anyway) before Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act (which the government argues, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance…
The al Bahlul Oral Argument Semianniversary
Today, April 22, marks the six-month anniversary of the oral argument before the D.C. Circuit in al Bahlul v. United States, by far the most significant constitutional challenge…