Constitution
688 Articles
Supreme Court Grants Temporary Stay in Backpage Senate Subpoena Litigation
I recently wrote about the Senate civil enforcement action seeking to enforce a subpoena of Backpage.com records issued by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI). Backpage…
The Vulnerability Equities Process Should Consider More than Intelligence Community Needs
Dave Aitel and Matt Tait’s recent post in Lawfare argued that the U.S. government’s procedure for deciding whether to withhold unknown or little-known vulnerabilities in…
Third Circuit Holds Suspension Clause Does Not Apply to Non-Citizens Physically (But Not Lawfully) Present in the United States
In a breathtaking 80-page opinion handed down today in Castro v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security, a unanimous panel of the Third Circuit has held that the Suspension Clause…
A Problematic Pseudo-Category of Surveillance Information and Promising Post-Collection Policy
This week, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declassified a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR) opinion that has important broad implications…
We Shouldn’t Wait Another Fifteen Years for a Conversation About Government Hacking
With high-profile hacks in the headlines and government officials trying to reopen a long-settled debate about encryption, information security has become a mainstream issue. But…
Secret Law, Targeting, and the Problem of Standards: A Response to Dakota Rudesill
In his recent posts and an article, Dakota Rudesill tackles the phenomenon of secret law. Dakota persuasively describes a growing body secret law, which he defines as “legal…
It’s Time to Come to Terms With Secret Law: Part II
On Wednesday, I summarized the findings of my recent study of alleged secret law in the three branches of the US government and my conclusion that secret law is a limited but important…
It’s Time to Come to Terms With Secret Law: Part I
Secret law. The words are chilling. They evoke Kafka, unaccountable government, liberty subordinated to state security – and to some ears, perhaps simply the paranoid rantings…
The Microsoft Ireland Case and the Future of Digital Privacy
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…
DOJ’s Motion to Dismiss in Smith v. Obama, the case challenging the legality of the war against ISIL
As I noted in an earlier post, Nathan Smith, a U.S. Army captain deployed to Kuwait as part of the campaign against ISIL, Operation Inherent Resolve, has sued the President,…
Letter to the Editor: Chairman Medine’s Dedicated Service to the PCLOB Was a Testament to Bipartisanship
David Medine left the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board on July 1, 2016, after three years of dedicated service and leadership as the board’s Chairman. As the board’s…
With Remote Hacking, the Government’s Particularity Problem Isn’t Going Away
Electronic surveillance succeeds because it is secret. When the government seeks to record “what is whispered in the closet,” in the words of Justice Brandeis, it must use…