Rule of Law
703 Articles
Talking About Section 215: A Readers’ Guide
Media coverage of John Oliver’s critique about the lack of discussion surrounding government surveillance programs seems to prove his point. Much, if not most, of the attention…
How a Case of Stolen Corn Seeds Shows the Problem with the FISA Court
As collateral challenges to the mass surveillance programs disclosed by Edward Snowden like US v. Moalin, US v. Muhtorov, and US v. Mohamud are winding their way through the courts,…
Court Denies FOIA Request for Panetta Review on CIA Torture
U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg today said that the CIA is not obligated to release the Panetta Review, an internal review of the CIA’s torture program that was heavily…
Wikimedia v. NSA: Standing and the Fight for Free Speech and Privacy
On March 10, 2015, represented by the ACLU, the Wikimedia Foundation and eight co-plaintiffs filed suit against the NSA, the Justice Department, and others, over the mass search…
Ninth Circuit Grants En Banc Rehearing in Posse Comitatus / Unlawful Surveillance Case
Back in September, I wrote about the Ninth Circuit’s fascinating decision in United States v. Dreyer, which applied the exclusionary rule to suppress evidence obtained…
It’s Time for an International Drone Accountability Regime
Editors’ note. This piece is a preview of a new article by the authors published in the Spring 2015 issue of Ethics and International Affairs. Lethal drones are being used…
Collateral Effects of Secretary Clinton’s Nonofficial Email
On March 2, the New York Times reported that Hillary Clinton exclusively used a nongovernment email account during her tenure as Secretary of State. Last December, following a…
Wall Street Journal Grants Anonymity to al-Qaeda’s “First Easily Accessible Media Liaison”
The Wall Street Journal today quotes at length from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) “first easily accessible media liaison” and explicitly grants the source…
US Government Makes Slight Concession in Twitter’s Warrant-Canary Suit
The US government last week conceded for the first time that some companies have the right to publish so called “warrant canaries” in a new filing supporting its partial motion…
Beyond Drones: The Next-Generation of Autonomous Weapons Cannot be Developed in Secrecy
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…
Five Important Questions About DEA’s Vehicle Surveillance Program
With each week, we seem to learn about a new government location tracking program. This time, it’s the expanded use of license plate readers. According to the Wall Street Journal, relying…
Charlie Hebdo, The Interview, and Censoring Torture Photos
In France and the United States, there seems to be near-universal agreement that to self-censor because of threats of violence is unwise and cowardly. The slogan “Je Suis Charlie,”…