Steven Aftergood writes: Ordinarily, critics of government secrecy focus their ire — and their strategy — on executive branch agencies that refuse to release certain national security-related information to the public. But to an extent that is not widely recognized or understood, it is Congress that has erected barriers to greater openness and has blocked…
Category: Laws
H.R. 6339 – Electronic Communications Privacy Act Modernization Act of 2012
You may not be able to hear me shouting,”THIS.” but I’ve uploaded the text of the Conyers and Nadler bill, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act Modernization Act of 2012, here (their press release can be found here). The bill is what many of us have hoped for. It not only sets a warrant standard, but it mandates…
DNA and the Fourth Amendment
An editorial in yesterday’s New York Times begins: Earlier this year, Maryland’s highest court held that collection of DNA samples from people arrested but not yet convicted violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. Last week, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. stayed that ruling while the Supreme Court decides whether to hear Maryland’s appeal of the…
Merkley Introduces Bill to Prevent Warrantless Surveillance of Americans
On Thursday, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley introduced the Protect America’s Privacy Act, which would reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to ensure that intelligence agencies are not using a warrantless wiretapping program to collect and store emails and phone calls of American citizens. Under amendments to FISA passed during the Bush administration, the intelligence…