President Obama recently stated that "the cyber threat to our nation is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face." This past fall, then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta warned of a "cyber Pearl Harbor," an attack on our nation's critical infrastructure that...

This week, the Senate is expected to vote on extension of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA). This is the law that was passed in 2008 to legalize a form of the National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless wiretapping program. Unless Congress renews it, it will expire on December 31.

Under...

Last Thursday, Senators Lieberman, Collins, Rockefeller, Feinstein, and Carper introduced a new version of the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 (S. 3414), designed to protect America's computer networks from hackers and other cyber attacks. In his op-ed in Friday's Wall Street Journal, President Obama calls for immediate...

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Arizona v. United States, a closely watched case in which the federal government challenged Arizona's controversial immigration law, SB 1070. The decision and its impact has since been dissected in both legal and media circles. Perhaps more than anything,...

Last month, a series of investigative reports in the Washington Post revealed that a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) task force had spent nine years reviewing cases in which it was alleged that some forensic evidence prosecutors used in obtaining convictions was flawed. Despite warnings that problems were potentially widespread,...

When federal prosecutors charged the late Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) with failing to report more than $250,000 in illegal gifts and home renovations, they knew the stakes were sky high. Stevens, after all, was only the 11th senator in history to be indicted while in office. In 2008, the prosecutions...

Policymaking in the fog of war can lead to regrettable choices. One need only consider the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II or passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Ten years ago, in the anxious days after the attacks of 9/11, we witnessed a rush to...

Tuesday, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced the Consular Notification Compliance Act, a long-awaited bill aimed at protecting the consular access rights of foreign nationals in U.S. custody who are charged or convicted of capital crimes. The act provides for judicial review of alleged violations of Article 36 of...

Two years ago, the U. S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the landmark case Boumediene v. Bush. The Court ruled that the constitutionally guaranteed right of habeas corpus review applies to the Guantánamo detainees, enabling them to challenge their detention in federal court. Through the ruling,...

For far too long, the national discussion around how and where to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other suspected 9/11 conspirators has been wrongly framed as a partisan dispute. It is simply wrong to believe that national security issues pit Democrats against Republicans, conservatives against progressives, or even, as...

Earlier today, the Constitution Project and Human Rights Watch co-hosted a panel discussion on immigration detention and access to counsel at the National Press Club. Two new reports, Recommendations for Reforming our Immigration Detention System and Promoting Access to Counsel in Immigration Proceedings by the Constitution...

Earlier today, in an effort coordinated by the Constitution Project, three signatories to Beyond Guantanamo: A Bipartisan Declaration sent an open letter to the Illinois congressional delegation and the state's public officials supporting the use of federal and state prisons, including the Thomson, Illinois facility, to house...

Today, over 125 prominent Americans, including former members of Congress, diplomats, federal judges and prosecutors, high-level military and government officials, and bar leaders, endorsed Beyond Guantanamo: A Bipartisan Declaration. Coordinated by the Constitution Project and Human Rights First, the Declaration represents the largest collection of policy...

Earlier today, the Constitution Project and the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security brought together a group of expert panelists at the National Press Club to discuss the civil liberties implications of the government's response to the H1N1 flu, more commonly known as swine flu.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was created by Congress in 2004 in response to the recommendations contained in the 9/11 Commission report. The Board's mission is to review the privacy and civil liberties issues raised by the government's national security policies and programs. Originally housed...

"Throughout its history, Congress has engaged in oversight of the Executive Branch--the review, monitoring, and supervision of the implementation of public policy. Congress' right of access to executive branch information is constitutionally based and is critical to the integrity and effectiveness of our scheme of separated but balanced powers."

So...

Of the many Guantanamo tragedies, perhaps none has been greater than our handling of the Uighurs, a group of Chinese Muslim detainees. Picked up, detained, and wrongly classified as dangerous terrorists, 17 Uighurs spent more than seven years wrongfully imprisoned. Four were finally released last month, but 13 remain locked...

Within his first few days of office, President Obama issued a series of executive orders that began the vital and complex process of restoring the rule of law. These early moves broke from Bush administration policies and created great expectations for future changes. However, a few pen strokes cannot undo...

Last Monday, it seemed like deja-vu when the Holder Justice Department argued that a federal court had no right to hear a lawsuit about torture. The administration asserted that the suit is blocked by the state secrets privilege, a legal doctrine whose purpose is to prevent public disclosure of...

Jon Gould co-authored this article

Although the economic downturn is severely stretching businesses, state coffers, and family budgets, we must not allow it to endanger the nation's criminal justice system and to increase the risk of wrongful convictions. Only by investing in reasonable criminal justice reforms now can we...