Sadly, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the decision in Al-Haramain, the only suit against the government’s Terrorist Surveillance Program that had prevailed. The reversal was based on the government’s claim that FISA’s civil remedies language did not trump sovereign immunity. In their opinion, the court took special pains to respond to the…
Get Tested Or Get Out: School Forces Pregnancy Tests on Girls, Kicks out Students Who Refuse or are Pregnant
Tiseme Zegeye writes: In a Louisiana public school, female students who are suspected of being pregnant are told that they must take a pregnancy test. Under school policy, those who are pregnant or refuse to take the test are kicked out and forced to undergo home schooling. Welcome to Delhi Charter School, in Delhi, Louisiana,…
Lone Senator Is Fighting Widespread And Illegal Government Surveillance Of US Citizens
WhoWhatWhy writes: During the Bush administration, it seemed that nary a Republican—and just a handful of Democrats in Congress—spoke out about the government’s crackdown on civil liberties. Since a Democrat took power, the silence has spread. One notable exception is Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Wyden continues a lonely…
Bad News On Warrantless GPS Tracking
Catherine Crump writes: Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a disappointing but fortunately narrow decision in a case involving warrantless tracking of a vehicle with a GPS device. The three-judge panel refused to exclude GPS tracking evidence under what’s known as the “good faith” exception, ruling that when the tracking took place,…