The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper has revealed a leaked Interior Ministry document which appears to suggest an expansion of the German secret service as part of the Christian Democrats’ post-election program. The document, which is dated Sept. 22 and headed “Coalition Paper Preparation”, suggests giving the secret services the authority to conduct online computer searches, access…
Westboro Baptist Church wins its appeal
Annie Youderian reports: Signs declaring “Thank God for dead soldiers” and “Fag troops” at the funeral of a Marine killed in Iraq may have been “distasteful and vulgar,” but they are nonetheless protected by the First Amendment, the 4th Circuit ruled Thursday, overturning a $5 million verdict against the Westboro Baptist Church. The three-judge panel…
Photojournalist sues government over raid
Laura Sennett is a photojournalist who covers political demonstrations and protests and often publishes her photographs under the alias of “Isis.” On April 12,2008, Sennett was photographing protests in Washington, D.C. related to the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The protests became violent, and Sennett claims that like others, she ran away…
Should we have celebrated the Constitution?
Matt Hutchins reports in the Harvard Law Record: On the 222nd anniversary of the adoption of the United States Constitution at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Harvard University fulfilled its federally mandated celebration of the Constitution by convening a panel of experts to examine what aspects of the document deserve to be celebrated and what…