News & Commentary

Wednesday San Francisco Board of Supervisors Hearing on Muni WiFi

In a 2-1 decision, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals today dismissed a legal challenge to the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program. The challenge was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of prominent journalists, scholars, attorneys and national nonprofit organizations who say that the unchecked surveillance program is disrupting their ability to communicate effectively with sources and clients.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has taken action to finally get out the truth about the administration's domestic spying program. Senator Leahy has issued subpoenas to the White House and the office of Vice President Dick Cheney.

Check out the ACLU's Subpoena Watch webpage, with a checklist of what has been subpoenaed and up-to-date monitoring on what documents have been produced.

Thank you to everyone who contacted their Senators on the two Real ID amendments to the Immigration Bill.

Call text:

"Hello, I'm a constituent, and I urge [name of your Senator] to support Senate Amendment 1236 and Senate Amendment 1441 to change the immigration reform bill (S. 1348). I oppose the REAL ID Act, and oppose the electronic employment verification system's lack of due process and privacy protections."

To reach Senator Boxer, please call 415-403-0100.

To reach Senator Feinstein, please call 415-393-0707.

For more information about the employee verification system, EPIC produced an extensive Spotlight on Surveillance piece on the issue in May. You can read it here.

For more information about the amendments, see below.

Baucus-Tester amendment # 1236 - Striking Real ID Requirements from Immigration bill

What it does:

Eliminates from pending immigration bill a

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the government must have a search warrant before it can secretly seize and search emails stored by email service providers.

Click here for more information about RFID technology and the California legislation.

You can also read more about the issue in my upcoming article in the Stanford Law and Technology Review

A new reporter's shield law, the Free Flow of Information Act, has been introduced in Congress. It would protect a broader group of people than earlier versions, including bloggers. It covers anyone engaged in journalism, such as gathering, preparing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting or publishing of news or information.

The issue of still photography of the public streets presents the need to balance two important civil liberties issues- the right to privacy and the free speech right to photography in public spaces which has also been under assault since 9/11.