Supreme Court hears First Amendment case over right to talk with terrorist groups

The Supreme Court heard arguments over a challenge to laws fobidding “training,” “service” or “expert advice or assistance” to terrorist groups. A retired lawyer is seeking the right to provide support for the nonviolent activities of a Kurdish party and a Tamil group both classified as terrorist organizations. -db

The New York Times
February 23, 2010
By Adam Liptak [...]

Pennsyvania court fires on local agency for withholding names of Homeland Security contractors

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review will have access to the identities of contractors who supplied first responder equipment to local agencies. In making the records public, the commonwealth court said it found no reasonable public safety argument in favor of withholding the names. -db

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
February 11, 2010
By Cristina Abello

A Pennsylvania agency [...]

Free speech: Patriot Act prevents civil rights lawyer from helping Kurdish group abandon terrorism

A civil rights lawyer is challenging a provision in the Patriot Act over his First Amendment rights to engage a Kurdish group he wants to advise about ways to resolve issues peacefully. The provision forbids him from engaing the group including offering “expert advice or assistance.” -db

The New York Times
February 11, 2010
By Adam Liptak
WASHINGTON, [...]

ACLU sounds warning on role of fusion centers in domestic spying

The American Civil Liberties Union warns that the 70 fusion centers set up to collect and share information after 9/11 are operating with little oversight, even book-marking law-abiding citizens for using “threatening words” one of which is “protest.” -db

American Civil Liberties Union
Opinion
January 29, 2010
By Amanda Simon

For years now, the ACLU has been sounding the alarm [...]

Records show FBI illegally obtained telephone call records

The FBI trampled the civil liberties of United States citizens by gathering up over 2,000 phone records between 2002 and 2006 by faking terrorism emergencies or simply strong-arming phone companies. -DB
The Washington Post
January 19, 2010
By John Solomon and Carrie Johnson

The FBI illegally collected more than 2,000 U.S. telephone call records between 2002 and 2006 [...]

Government worker fired for expressing political views loses round in court

An analyst working for the Library of Congress lost a first round in court when the judge refused to issue an order restoring the man to his job. The judge said however that his case was well-founded and that he was likely to prevail. -DB

Politico
January 20, 2010
A Congressional Research Service analyst who was fired from [...]

Obama administration begins roll back of ideological exclusion of international scholars

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed orders lifting the ban of two foreign scholars denied the opportunity to address audiences in the United States. The two are prominent scholars from England and South Africa and were denied visas to the U.S. by the Bush administration. -DB

American Civil Liberties Union
Press Release
January 20, 2010

WASHINGTON. D.C. – [...]

U.S. looking at issues of internet freedom after alleged Chinese cyberattack on Google accounts

After Google announced this week that hackers had tried to penetrate Gmail accounts in China including those of U.S. financial institutions and defense contractors, the Obama administration is considering their options in maintaining internet freedom. -DB
NextGov
January 13, 2010
By Aliya Sternstein
An alleged cyberattack by the Chinese government into systems operated by Google and other U.S. [...]

TSA backs off of subpoena to blogger publishing new airport security directive

After a blogger refused to surrender records of his posting of the new government airport security directive, the Transportation Security Administration changed course and withdrew the subpoena for the records. The blogger had objected to the lack of time to comply and that as a journalist he would be required to reveal his sources. -DB

Electronic [...]

Federal court upholds secrecy on surveillance records

A federal appeals court ruled that the government could refuse to confirm or deny the existence of electronic surveillance records as an exception under the Freedom of Information Act. Former Guantanamo Bay detainees had requested records of the warrantless surveillance. -DB

JURIST
January 01, 2010
By Christian Ehret
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official [...]

Obama administration releases September White House visitor logs

In a move that signals a change in practice from a year ago, the Obama administration released its log of White House visitors for September 16-30 along with 2,000 records from before September 16. -DB

Sunlight Foundation
Commentary
December 30, 2009
By Daniel Schuman
Today the White House released its log of White House visitors for the period of September [...]

TSA puts heat on blogger posting new screening procedures

Armed agents from the Transportation Security Administration visited two bloggers in their homes with subpoenas, seeking the identity of the source who provided a document revising screening procedures for airports after the recent aborted bombing attempt by a Nigerian man. -DB

Wired
Threat Level
December 30, 2009
By Kim Zetter

Two bloggers received home visits from Transportation Security Administration agents [...]

Justice Department wants to close trial of Blackwater guards

Citing national security issues, the Justice Department has asked a judge to close the Jan. 7 trial of five security guards who allegedly killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians. -DB
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
December 21, 2009
By Rory Eastburg

The Justice Department has asked a judge to close a Jan. 7 hearing in the prosecution [...]

Federal judge orders release of government evidence pertaining to ‘no-fly list’

A federal judge in San Francisco ordered the Transportation Security Administration to disclose evidence showing that a Malaysian Muslim studying at Stanford University belonged on the federal government’s no-fly list. She was denied entry to the U.S. and lost her student visa. -DB

Courthouse News Service
December 21, 2009
By Annie Youderian

A federal judge in San Francisco ordered [...]

Freedom of Information Act request garners oversight report of alleged illegal intelligence activities

In response to its FOIA lawsuit in July, the Electronic Frontier Foundation saw the government release an intelligence oversight report that reveals intelligence activities some believe are illegal. -DB

Electronic Frontier Foundation
December 16, 2009
By Nate Cardozo
Today the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National [...]

Government lawyer argues torture suit too sensitive for public court

Citing national security and state secrets, a Justice Department lawyer argued that the suit involving the CIA and a San Jose company over extraordinary rendition and torture of suspected terrorists cannot proceed in open court. -DB
San Francisco Chronicle
December 16, 2009
By Bob Egelko
SAN FRANCISCO — A lawsuit accusing a Bay Area flight-planning company of aiding [...]

CIA fears new open government initiative could allow anyone to glean classified information from unclassified documents

Faced with the new open government directive, the Central Intelligence Agency is trying to decide to release online declassified documents and noncopyrighted analyses of foreign news. They fear that information online could be extracted more easily and combined to reveal classified information. -DB
NextGov

December 11, 2009
By Alicia Sternstein
The release of the open government directive could change intelligence [...]

Watchdog group seeks access to long sought White House visitor logs

Judicial Watch is suing the Secret Service for access to unreleased visitor legs requested under the Freedom of Information Act. The government cited national security concerns for some of the logs. -DB

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
December 10, 2009
By Miranda Fleschert

Mere weeks after the White House began publishing select visitor logs online, the conservative [...]

Federal shield bill for reporters passes major hurdle

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the federal media shield bill to the full Senate after months of debate and amendments. The contentious issue of whether bloggers and other citizen journalists will be covered by the bill has yet to be determined. -DB
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
December 10, 2009
By Cristina Abello

The Senate [...]

Law professor argues public interest not served by Defense Secretary discretion on FOIA requests

Cornell Law School’s Michael Dorf says public interest may be not receive its just due now that Congress has removed judicial review for classifying material on national security grounds especially when that material may concern illegal activity. -DB

FindLaw
Analysis
December 2, 2009
By Michael C. Dorf

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the ruling of the U.S. [...]

EFF sues to force government to provide records of spying on social networks

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, working with the UC Berkeley law school, has filed suit against a number of federal agencies who have not responded to Freedom of Information Act requests for information about their surveillance of social networking sites. -DB

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Press Release
December 1, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), working with the [...]

ACLU argues hiding torture photos weakens democracy

ACLU Blog Manager Suzanne Ito says that in keeping the torture photos secret, the Obama administration is setting a dangerous precedent by preventing public scrutiny of government misconduct and stifling ideas that could make government operations more just and effective. -DB

American Civil Liberties Union
Opinion
December 1, 2009
By Suzanne Ito

Yesterday, the Supreme Court sent back to an [...]

U.S. translations of Jihad literature not made public

U.S. government intelligence agencies are translating Jihad literature but, claiming national security concerns, are not sharing it with the public. A window into the literature opened recently when the DNI Open Source Center translated stories from an Indonesian Jihadist anthology. -DB
Secrecy News

Federation of American Scientists
Commentary
November 30, 2009
By Steven Aftergood

“The only ones who are spending the money and [...]

Obama administration working to derail declassification order

The Obama administration wants to delay an order to declassify historical records at least 25 years old to allow government agencies time to review the records. -DB
Secrecy News
Federation of American Scientists
Commentary
November 23, 2009
By Steven Aftergood

Development of a new executive order on classification of national security information is now proceeding at an accelerated pace in order to [...]

Secretary of Defense blocks release of torture photos

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates used powers granted to him under new legislation passed last month to exempt the photos of abuse of detainees from the Freedom of Information Act. The new law provides exemptions for records deemed harmful to national security. -DB

American Civil Liberties Union
Press Release
November 14, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a brief filed late [...]

Federal Court rejects Plame’s argument to allow her to publicize details of CIA service

Former CIA operative Valerie Plame claimed that after the government outed her as an agent and her employment record became part of the congressional record that the First Amendment allowed her to void her confidentiality agreement with the CIA and reveal details of her CIA service. A federal appeals court rejected her arguments citing national [...]

Foundation provides records of secret negotiations for telecom immunity in illegal government surveillance

Using the Freedom of Information Act, the Electronic Frontier Foundation obtained the records of secret negotiations between government agencies and Congress that provided immunity for telecoms cooperating with the government in warrantless surveillance of American citizens. -DB

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Press Release
November 12, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO – Today the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) posted thousands of pages of [...]

Obama administration asks Supreme Court to delay decision on appeal of release of detainee torture photos

The United States Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to postpone deciding whether to hear the case over whether abuse photos of detainees should be released to the public. If the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill is signed into law, provisions in the bill would allow the administration to withhold the photos from public scrutiny, making [...]

Senate moves to back Obama in barring release of torture photos

A senate Committee voted to amend the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill to include language to allow the Secretary of Defense to withhold photos of detainees who had undergone torture. -DB
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
October 8, 2009
By Miranda Fleschert
Barring the release of photos depicting abuse of detainees in U.S. custody was again [...]

Obama administration wants national security exemption in federal shield law

The Obama administration wants the federal shield law now in Congress to force reporters to disclose confidential sources who leak national security information. -DB
The New York Times
October 1, 2009
By Charlie Savage
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Obama administration has told lawmakers that it opposes legislation that could protect reporters from being imprisoned if they refuse to disclose [...]

Federal judge rules CIA cannot be forced to release documents related to destruction of 9/11 interrogation videotapes

The Associated Press
September 30, 2009
By Larry Neumeister

Agreeing with CIA Diretor Leon Panetta, a federal judge said that national security concerns override other issues in upholding the CIA’s right to keep secret their methods of getting information from uncooperative detainees. The American Civil liberties Union is seeking the documents related to interrogations of 9/11 detainees that [...]

National security classification may find reasonable term limits

For the first time, a presidential administration has said that no information may remain classified indefinitely, raising hopes that after no more than 50 years government records would be automatically declassified and intelligence records no more than 75 years from date or origin. -DB
Secrecy News
Federation of American Scientists
CommentarySeptember 29, 2009
By Steven Aftergood
“No information may remain [...]

Obama to announce new policy on state secrets

The Obama administration is expected to make it harder for the government to invoke a “state secrets” claim when asked about such activities as rendition, wiretaps and treatment of terrorist suspects. -DB
The Washington Post
September 23, 2009
By Carrie Johnson
The Obama administration will announce a new policy Wednesday making it much more difficult for the government [...]

Montana senator asks for accounting on lavish border post construction

Montana Senator Jon Tester asked Homeland Secrity Secretary Janet Napolitano for details of how money will be spent on remote border stations amid criticism that that millions will be wasted overbuilding facilities. -DB
The Missoulian
September 20, 2009
By Michael Jamison
KALISPELL, Montana – Amid controversy over the high cost of building northern border ports, Sen. Jon Tester has asked [...]

Obama administration agrees to make White House visitor logs public

To end four lawsuits by a watchdog group, the Obama White House has reversed a policy keeping visitor logs secret now allowing news organizations and others a chance to see who is influencing administration policy on vital issues. -DB
USA TODAY
September 4, 2009
By Richard Wolf
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Obama administration plans to change White House policy by [...]

Obama continues Bush procedures on warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens

The EFF legal director says the Obama administration has embraced the Bush policies on surveillance and more disturbingly the Bush principle that the executive branch is above the law. -DB
ACS Blog
Commentary
August 17, 2009
By Cindy Cohn
Both former NSA Director Michael Hayden and former Justice Department attorney John Yoo have taken to the editorial pages of major national [...]

Pentagon wants public input on social networking policy

Faced with the arduous task of framing a policy on social media that balances security and the need for troops to communicate with friends and family, the Defense Department is asking the public for their ideas. -DB
NextGov
August 10, 2009
By Bob Brewin
How do you develop a policy for using social media in the Defense Department that balances [...]

Obama administration sought to weaken whistleblower legislation

Leaked e-mails show that White House lawyers drafted versions of the whistleblower legislation that weakened protections for some whistle blowers including FBI employees. -DB
The Washington Times
August 7, 2009
By Tom LoBianco
Despite its pledge to better protect federal employees who expose wrongdoing, the Obama administration privately sought to weaken protections for national security whistleblowers under legislation making its [...]

Obama state secrets argument sounds alarm

he Obama administration argued in a friend-of–the-court brief that the states secret privilege was rooted in the Constitution.  Some thought the opinion raised questions about Obama’s commitment to curbing executive power. -DB
The New York Times
August 4, 2009
By Adam Liptak
A Supreme Court filing from the Obama administration last month has set off alarm bells on the left.
The [...]

Security concerns may shut down military social networks for military personnel

Just as the U.S. military is beginning to embrace Twitter and Facebook, it may have to close these sites down to keep out hackers and cybercrooks. -DB
Wired
July 30, 2009
By Noah Shachtman
The U.S. military is strongly considering a near-total ban on Twitter, Facebook, and all other social networking sites throughout the Department of Defense, multiple sources within [...]

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