Tag Archives: civil liberties
Intel Authorization Bill Would EXPAND Surveillance Against Americans
Below is the full text of the Dear Colleague circulated this afternoon by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI): Block New Spying on U.S. Citizens: Vote “NO” on H.R. 4681 Dear Colleague: The intelligence reauthorization bill, which the House will vote on … Continue reading
NSA Reform: When 293 Votes Is Not A Majority
Late this afternoon, I was informed that the only NSA reform measure to pass either chamber of Congress this year–the Lofgren/Massie amendment to the FY15 DoD approps bill–is being stripped out of that bill as part of the House-Senate deal … Continue reading
Udall, The Torture Report and The Pentagon Papers Option
Shortly after Colorado Senator Mark Udall lost his reelection bid to Rep. Cory Gardner, it began–first as conversations among civil liberties activists, then in media outlets, and finally Udall himself raised the possibility: on his way out of the Senate, … Continue reading
Surveillance Reform: House Mid-term Election Impact Update
While seven House races remain undecided, what we do know is that seven House members who voted for the Massie/Lofgren/Holt NSA surveillance reform amendment to the FY15 DoD appropriations bill were defeated on election night. They are Shea-Porter (NH-1), Garcia … Continue reading
NSA Reform Legislation Update
I’ll withhold final judgement on the pending Conyers-Sensenbrenner bill until I see the bill text, but here’s a reality check based on the summary provided thus far by the bill’s authors and some accounts online: Conyers-Sensenbrenner would leave the Surveillance … Continue reading
HPSCI’s “Statue of Liberty” Play On PATRIOT Act Reauthorization
Did the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) engage in the document-based form of the old football deception play? That’s the allegation coming from Michigan Rep. Justin Amash: Justin Amash, the Michigan Republican whose effort to defund theNSA‘s mass phone-records collection … Continue reading
“The Transcript Is Classified”
Glenn Greenwald reports today on how Rep.’s Morgan Griffith (R) and Alan Grayson (D) have been shafted by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) regarding their NSA scandal-related inquiries. Here’s the key passage: On June 19, Grayson wrote … Continue reading
David Bromwich On “Liberty, Security, and Fear”
Yale literature professor David Bromwich has a superb piece on HuffPo today that articulates so well the fraud that is the American Surveillance State: And what of liberty? A view taken by many apologists for massive surveillance holds that liberty is … Continue reading
Some Whistleblower Resources From CRS
With the Manning verdict pending, I thought it might interest folks in what Congress’s research arm, the Congressional Research Service, has had to say about this topic: National Security Whistleblowers Survey of Federal Whistleblower And Anti-retaliation Laws Whistleblower Protections Under … Continue reading
Greenwald Repeats Claim NSA Analsyts Can Snoop Without Warrants
From The Hill, regarding Greenwald’s restated assertion that low-level NSA analysts can listen to To the phone calls or read the emails of U.S. Persons without a warrant: “These programs are, are very simple screens, like the ones that supermarket … Continue reading
Long Strange Journey 