Sarah Bridge reports: More than a dozen Canadians have told the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office in Toronto within the past year that they were blocked from entering the United States after their records of mental illness were shared with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Lois Kamenitz, 65, of Toronto contacted the office last fall,…
Category: U.S.
Privacy laws may prevent Seattle police from wearing body cameras
Parella Lewis reports: Could the Seattle Police Department improve its public image by wearing body cameras? Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell is spearheading a pilot program that could put small cameras on officers by the end of 2012. However, Bob Scales who work at the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, said a few issues under current…
DOJ must release records about cellphone location tracking
You-Jin Han writes on The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held yesterday that the U.S. Department of Justice must release case docket information in certain criminal cases resulting in convictions or guilty pleas. The ruling applies to cases in which the government used cellphone location…
ACLU Challenges Florida’s Mandatory Drug Tests for Temporary Assistance Recipients
From the ACLU of Florida: The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLUFL) today announced it filed suit in federal court seeking to halt implementation of Florida’s new law mandating drug testing of applicants to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program without suspicion of drug use. The suit, filed Tuesday, September 6, 2011…