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Civil Liberties

Honduras: Coup D'etat Murder, Mayhem and Lost Civil Liberties

Lys Anzia | Posted 10.29.2009 | World

Read More: Honduras Coup, Civil Liberties, Women, Women's Rights, Global Politics, Human Rights, World, Manuel Zelaya, Honduras, World News
Lys Anzia

Due to the current military state of affairs since June, the World Bank has now completely "paused its lending" to Honduras. This means that numerous humanitarian programs aimed at helping women and children have been completely stopped.

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Patriot Act Redux

James Zogby | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics

Read More: Richard Durbin, Civil Liberties, Patriot Act, Amy Klobuchar, Senate Judiciary Committee, Patriot Act Civil Liberties, Politics News
James Zogby

Civil libertarians of the right and left urged the Senate not to reauthorize the three provisions of the Patriot Act without providing new restraints on law enforcement and adequate protections.

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Obama Versus Obama on the Patriot Act

Leslie Harris | Posted 10.10.2009 | Politics

Read More: Civil Liberties, Inspector General, Patriot Act, Congress, Justice Department, President Obama, Fbi, National Security Letters, Judiciary Committee, Barack Obama, Nsl, Politics News
Leslie Harris

Disturbingly, Obama Administration officials played a significant behind the scene role in opposing stronger civil liberties protections, directly contradicting Obama's positions as a Senator.

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Stop And Frisk: Police Stop More Than 1 Million People On Street

AP | COLLEEN LONG | Posted 10.09.2009 | New York

Read More: Civil Liberties, American Civil Liberties Union, Nypd, Police Stops, Crime, Stop and Frisk, New York, Racial Profiling, New York News

NEW YORK — A teenager trying to get into his apartment after school is confronted by police. A man leaving his workplace chooses a different rou...

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Our Neighbors' Keeper: Local Cop Chiefs Want to Create a Nation of Snoops

Dave Lindorff | Posted 10.08.2009 | Local

Read More: Civil Liberties, Terrorism, Citizen Spies, Domestic-Spying, Police Spying, Local News
Dave Lindorff

The last thing we need is a bunch of self-appointed citizen snoops calling in to the cops with reports on every neighbor who looks or acts a little bit different.

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NYPD Is Building Database Of Cell Phone Users: Report

nydailynews.com | By Rocco Parascandola | Posted 10.08.2009 | New York

Read More: Cell Phones, Civil Liberties, Nypd, Crime, Criminals, Criminal Cell Phones, Cell Phone Database, New York Police Department, New York News

The NYPD is amassing a database of cell phone users, instructing cops to log serial numbers from suspects' phones in hopes of connecting them to past ...

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Jeff Muskus

GOP Targets Dodd For Trying To Repeal Immunity For Telecoms In Wiretapping Program

HuffingtonPost.com | Jeff Muskus | Posted 10.06.2009 | Politics

Read More: John Cornyn, Civil Liberties, FISA Amendments, Warrantless Wiretapping, Telecom Immunity, Chris Dodd, Domestic Spying, Chris Dodd Wiretapping, Politics News

The Senate GOP fundraising arm is soliciting donations by vowing to defeat Democrats who want to repeal the retroactive immunity granted last year to ...

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Twittering the G20 Iranian Style

Leslie Harris | Posted 10.06.2009 | Technology

Read More: Freedom of Speech, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Civil Liberties, Iran, Center for Democracy and Technology, First Amendment to the United States Constitution, State Department, Federal Government of the United States, Free Speech, United State, U.S. Government, Twitter, New York, Pittsburgh, Technology News
Leslie Harris

In the wake of protests last week at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, the police arrested a self-professed anarchist for using Twitter to coordinate communications among G20 summit protesters.

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Desperate Honduran Leaders Vow To Restore Freedoms

AP | MARK STEVENSON | Posted 09.29.2009 | World

Read More: Journalists, Lawmakers, Honduras Coup, Zelaya, Micheletti, Latin America, Tegucigalpa, Radio, Protests, Update, Brazil, Press Rights, San Pedro Soula, Coup, Television, Civil Liberties, Military, Honduras, World News

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The coup-installed president of Honduras backed down Monday from an escalating standoff with protesters and suggested he...

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Jeff Muskus

Democrats Spar With Obama DOJ Over PATRIOT Act

HuffingtonPost.com | Jeff Muskus | Posted 09.23.2009 | Politics

Read More: Patriot Act, Patriot Act Extension, PATRIOT Act Expiring, Civil Liberties, National Security, Obama, Obama Doj, Politics News

When President Obama was Senator Obama, he had deep reservations about the expansion of executive authority. Now that he wields that authority, he's h...

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Did Obama Break His Campaign Promise to Scrap the Patriot Act?

Earl Ofari Hutchinson | Posted 11.15.2009 | Politics

Read More: Civil Liberties, Terror War, Constitutional, Bush, Civil Rights, Wiretaps, President Obama, Lone Wolf Terrorists, Patriot Act, Campaign Pledge, Politics News
Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Provisions of the Patriot Act that remain on the books are legally questionable and constitutionally suspect. President Obama has given no hint that he'll change them.

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The Hysteria Factor: Obama and the Swine Flu

Mike Papantonio | Posted 11.11.2009 | Politics

Read More: Vaccine, Air America, Pap Attack, Swine Flu, Civil Liberties, Mike Papantonio, Fear, Kathleen Sebelius, GoLeft.Tv, Golefttv, Pandemic, Panic, Ring of Fire, Politics News
Mike Papantonio

Napolitano can't afford to understate the seriousness of the swine flu, even though America has been abused by politically motivated scare tactics for eight years.

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Obama Gets Failing Grades From Privacy Advocates

Huffington Post | Jenna Staul | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Civil Liberties, Online Medical Records, President Obama, Electronic Surveillance, Privacy, Online-Marketing, Electronic Medical Records, Politics News

President Obama earns poor to failing grades from privacy advocates who claim that his administration is neglecting privacy and civil-liberties issue...

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White Rivers, Brown Skin, and Black Deeds: Into the Rabbit Hole of Border Detentions and Racial Profiling

Hamdan Azhar | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Muslims, BORDER ISSUES, Racial Profiling, Canada, Homeland Security, Aclu, Civil Liberties, National Security, Customs and Border Protection, Politics News
Hamdan Azhar

The evil of profiling is that it dehumanizes its victims, stripping them of their individuality. The border officials didn't see me as a writer or as a wide-eyed student in the grip of wanderlust.

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Remembering a Fighter for Freedom

Michelle Pilecki | Posted 10.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Obituary, Aclu, Lobbyists, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Bipartisanship, Frankel, Legislation, Politics News
Michelle Pilecki

Larry Frankel spent his professional life as a legislative lobbyist for the ACLU. That means that Larry worked behind the scenes with both "left" and "right" legislators to protect the civil rights.

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Tighter oversight on border laptop searches

AP | EILEEN SULLIVAN | Posted 09.28.2009 | Politics

Read More: U.S. Customs, Civil Liberties, Bush Administration, Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Travel, Obama Administration, Laptop Searches, U.S. Border, Canadian Border, Mexican Border, Politics News

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Thursday put new restrictions on searches of laptops at U.S. borders to address concerns that federal a...

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Smoke and Mirrors

Shahid Buttar | Posted 09.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: Department of Homeland Security, Civil Liberties, Muslim, Racial Profiling, Civil Rights, Janet Napolitano, FBI Surveillance, Politics News
Shahid Buttar

American Muslims, Arabs, South Asians, and Latinos are still waiting for federal officials to respect our civil rights.

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McCain Protester Arrested At Rally Last Year Has Charges Dropped

The Denver Post | Felisa Cardona | Posted 09.13.2009 | Denver

Read More: Carol Kreck, Civil Liberties Protesters, McCain Protester Denver, Vince DiCroce, Civil Liberties, Mccain Protester, Denver News

Carol Kreck, who was cited for holding a paper sign outside presidential candidate John McCain's town-hall meeting last summer, had her trespassing ca...

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The Honeymoon's Over Mr. President - Now Deal with Guantanamo, Gay Rights and Health Care

Michael B. Laskoff | Posted 08.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gays in the Military, Civil Liberties, Guantanamo Detainees, Health Care Reform, Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Obama, Civil Rights, Gay Marriage, Blue Dog Democrats, Habeas Corpus, Politics News
Michael B. Laskoff

The true test of a president is not how he performs with the wind at his back, but how he performs in the face of stiff resistance.

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Ideological Purity and the Debate over "National ID"

Leslie Harris | Posted 08.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: Nation Id, Pass Id Act, Department of Homeland Security, Civil Liberties, Real Id Act, Janet Napolitano, Politics News
Leslie Harris

The debate over a "national" ID standard has touched off a fierce debate in the civil liberties community, the outcome of which could have serious implications for Americans' privacy.

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The Skip Gates Arrest May Not Have Been About Race -- But About Something Even Worse

William Easterly | Posted 08.27.2009 | Politics

Read More: Bureaucracy, Civil Liberties, Democracy, Henry Louis Gates, African Americans, Civil Rights, Politics News
William Easterly

My guess is that Sergeant James Crowley was following an inflexible rule that you arrest anyone who shouts angrily at a cop.

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Preventive Detention, at What Cost?

Shahid Buttar | Posted 08.13.2009 | Politics

Read More: Guantanamo, Preventive Detention, Civil Liberties, War on Terror, Constitution, Guantanamo Detainees, Due Process, Cointelpro, Politics News
Shahid Buttar

Whether called "preventive", "indefinite" or "prolonged," prevention detention schemes are essentially lawless, unconstitutional and un-American. At its root, detention without trial threatens democracy.

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CIA, Pelosi, Dems, Repubs, Media: All Guilty

Chip Berlet | Posted 08.10.2009 | Politics

Read More: Intelligence Agency Abuses, Civil Liberties, Repression, Cia, Nancy Pelosi, Politics News
Chip Berlet

Liberal denial gives silent permission to authoritarian aggression and violence by our government. The bogeyman has shifted from communism to terrorism, but the dynamics remain the same.

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Our Children (and Our Country) Deserve Democratic Schools

Sam Chaltain | Posted 08.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: Public Schools, Civil Liberties, Education, Civic Participation, Independence Day, Civic Engagement, Civics, Civic Duty, Education Reform, Politics News
Sam Chaltain

It is possible -- indeed, essential -- for schools to find the right organizational balance between individual freedom and group structure.

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Jason Linkins

Civil Liberties Groups Deny Support For Obama "Prolonged Detention" Policies

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 08.01.2009 | Politics

Read More: Civil Liberties, Guantanamo Bay, Guantanamo, Gitmo, Barack Obama, Politics News

So, here's the story: The Obama administration wants to close Guantanamo Bay. But Congress is filled with people who either inanely claim that housin...

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