JTjaden's blog

Government could strip citizenship from Americans under Enemy Expatriation Act

When Barack Obama inked the National Defense Authorization Act on New Year’s Eve, the president insisted that he wouldn’t use the terrifying legislation against American citizens. Another new law, however, could easily change all of that.

If the Enemy Expatriation Act passes in its current form, the legislation will let the government strike away citizenship for anyone engaged in hostilities, or supporting hostilities, against the United States. The law itself is rather brief, but in just a few words it warrants the US government to strip nationality status from anyone they identify as a threat.

What’s more, the government can decide to do so without bringing the suspected troublemaker before a court of law.

Know Your Rights - Free Speech, Protests, and Demonstrations in California

You have the right to speak out. Both the California Constitution and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protect your right to free expression. But there are many questions you face when you decide to organize and speak out. When do you need a police permit? Are there things you cannot say or do? Are there any limitations on when or where you can demonstrate? What about civil disobedience? This guide will help answer these questions

Op-Ed: Wake Up! The case for abolishing the death penalty

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
By Op Ed

It is rare these days to find advanced first-world nations that still employ the death penalty. In fact, other countries that appear on the list of “Death Penalty Permitted” besides the United States are countries that have developed negative reputations over recent years. One of the requirements for entry into the European Union is the outlaw of capital punishment. Here at home, 34 states still practice the death penalty — California being one of them. We, and the Stanford chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, hope to take the next few minutes of your time to illustrate for you how capital punishment is in fact too costly, discriminatory and inhumane to remain in operation in California or in the rest of the United States.

England Gave Us Habeas Corpus Once Before…

Can they do it again?

The British human rights organization today won a habeas corpus petition for their client, Yunus Rahmatullah, who has been detained at Bagram for 7 years, in the English Court of Appeal.

The Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, Lord Justice Maurice Kay, and Lord Justice Sullivan, said the case raised important principles of law. Their court ruling is the latest in a series relating to the treatment of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan that have been highly critical of the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence.

Related: If you'll remember, Sacramento Cnty attempted something similar three years ago

UK Houses of Parliament police: no political material allowed in Parliament

Police officers told a member of the public they were prohibited from bringing “political materials” into the Houses of Parliament, the Commons heard yesterday. In a great spot from Matthew Barrett at Conservative Home, a woman attending a lobby on Palestine was told by two police officers that this bizarre ban was on the order of parliamentary staff.

In a point of order to deputy speaker Lindsay Hoyle, MP David Burrowes told the chamber:

“As she arrived at security, a police officer confiscated her lobby briefing material and told her that she was not allowed to have anything of a political nature. In fact, she was told that this was a direction from the House authorities. The officer then spoke to a senior officer, who gave the same response.”

Related: New Fed warrantless GPS trackers discovered in the wild (with pictures)

SCOTUS and GPS Tracking: US v. Jones and Secret PATRIOT

Posted on November 9, 2011 by emptywheel

As I read the transcript of the SCOTUS hearing in the US v. Jones yesterday, I was most interested in what the comments suggest about the government’s secret use of the PATRIOT Act to–presumably–use phone geolocation to track people. (Here’s Dahlia Lithwick, Orrin Kerr, Julian Sanchez, Lyle Denniston, and Kashmir Hill on the hearing itself.)

Mind you, the facts in Jones are totally different from what we think may be happening with Secret PATRIOT (I’ll borrow Julian Sanchez’ speculation on what Secret PATRIOT does for this post). In Jones, a suspected drug dealer had a GPS device placed on his car after the 10-day warrant authorizing the cops to do so had already expired. As such, Jones tests generally whether the government needs an active warrant to track a suspect using GPS.

Cell Phone Guide for Occupy Wall Street Protesters (and Everyone Else)

Occupy Wall Street has called for a global day of action on October 15, and protesters are mobilizing all over the world. In the United States, the Occupy Wall Street movement has already spawned sizeable protests in New York, Washington DC, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, Austin, and other cities. Several of these movements have faced opposition from their local police departments, including mass arrests.

Protesters of all political persuasions are increasingly documenting their protests -- and encounters with the police -- using electronic devices like cameras and cell phones. The following tips apply to protesters in the United States who are concerned about protecting their electronic devices when questioned, detained, or arrested by police. These are general guidelines; individuals with specific concerns should talk to an attorney.

1. Protect your phone before you protest

Police Device Used To Steal Your Cell Phone Data During Traffic Stop

September 30th, 2011 Via: AOL Autos:

You may have heard about the Cellebrite cell phone extraction device (UFED) in the news lately. It gives law enforcement officials the ability to access all the information on your cell phone within a few short minutes. When it became known that Michigan State Police had been using the tool to access cell phones during traffic stops, it raised concern with the ACLU. Now, everyone is wondering if cops will be using devices like this elsewhere. Will this new law enforcement tool be abused, or will it be used responsibly in the pursuit of justice?

Call us paranoid, but we obtained a law-enforcement-grade software extraction tool for the iPhone to see exactly what data is up for grabs. You’d be surprised to see just how much data today’s smartphones can store — and police can access.

Facebook Keeps A History Of Everyone Who Has Ever Poked You, Along With A Lot Of Other Data

Across the pond, European law grants citizens a “right to access,” meaning that companies have to provide a person with all of the personal data they have on them if they request it. An Austrian-based group called Europe v. Facebook has posted a couple of the reports compiled by the social networking giant everyone loves (and loves to hate).

Most of you probably know that Facebook knows a lot about you. But did you know that if you were to print it out, it might take up about 880 pages? I went through one of the lengthy dossiers from Europe v. Facebook. Here are the juicy bits for a female Facebook user with the initials ‘L.B.’ who has been a member of the site since 2007: