A New York Times editorial in today’s paper looks at whether the majority is still as free as it had been to impose its morality through the law: […] The Alabama Supreme Court sided with the 11th Circuit court. “Public morality,” the majority said, “can still serve as a legitimate rational basis for regulating commercial…
Lawmakers Cave to FBI in Patriot Act Debate
David Kravets reports: Powerful Senate leaders on Thursday bowed to FBI concerns that adding privacy protections to an expiring provision of the Patriot Act could jeopardize “ongoing” terror investigations. The Patriot Act was adopted six weeks after the 2001 terror attacks, and greatly expanded the government’s power to intrude into the private lives of Americans…
Judge rejects request to limit victim information
Robert Nolin reports: Eight undocumented immigrants whom a Broward sheriff’s deputy is accused of sexually assaulting are embarrassed, afraid of retaliation by other officers and equally afraid of being deported should their names and personal information become public, a prosecutor said Thursday. So Assistant State Attorney Dennis Siegel requested that all such information regarding the…
DOJ: Proposed Settlement Reached in State Secrets Suit
Mike Scarcella of The Blog of Legal Times reports: A tentative settlement has been reached in a long-running suit that alleges a former intelligence agent and a State Department official unlawfully eavesdropped on a DEA agent, potentially bringing the state secrets case to an abrupt close and sparing the Justice Department a loss on appeal….