NewsTrust - Civil Liberties - Most Recent Stories

Gay-rights support stops at Cascades

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Seattle Times - By Lornet Turnbull - Nov. 05 (News Report) - The lopsided results over expansion of the state's domestic-partnership law, which voters overall were approving, show the challenge supporters of gay rights face in winning over all Washingtonians as they seek full equality.

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Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Arar

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Harper's - By Scott Horton - Nov. 03 (Editorial) - The majority, Calabresi charges, “engaged in extraordinary judicial activism.” Its activism was aimed at extricating political actors from a precarious predicament and keeping the door firmly shut on what may well be the darkest chapter in the entire history of the Justice Department.

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Dallas police chief: Dozens of tickets issued for not speaking English

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dallas Morning News - By Scott Goldstein - Oct. 23 (News Report) - Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said this afternoon that his officers have written at least 39 citations to people over the past three years for not speaking English

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Straight Guys Tell

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Advocate - By Michael Joseph Gross - Oct. 21 (Special Report) - You’ve heard the threats -- about how gay men in the shower might bring down the U.S. military with a wink, a pinch, or a flick of a wet towel. But where’s the truth in that? What’s it really like to serve alongside gay and lesbian service members?

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Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Mary Foster - Oct. 16 (News) - A white Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long. "I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

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La. interracial marriage: Is life tougher for biracial kids?

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - By Patrik Jonsson - Oct. 16 (News Analysis) - Researchers are finding that multiracial kids can sometimes be better socially adjusted than single-race offspring. And with the high-profile success of multiracial progeny such as Tiger Woods, Halle Berry, and President Obama (who at his first press conference as president described himself as a "mutt"), stereotypes about the split world of the "tragic mulatto" have long fallen by the wayside.

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Obama Administration Accused Again of Concealing Bush-Era Crimes

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

TruthOut - By Matt Renner - Oct. 14 (News Report) - the Obama administration has sought to conceal information in several high-profile court cases, in an effort that civil libertarians say amounts to covering up crimes committed by the Bush administration. Last week, in a federal courthouse in New York, Obama's Justice Department attorneys again argued in favor of secrecy.

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Why Nobel Laureate President Obama's Speech to the Gays Matters

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Leah McElrath Renna - Oct. 11 (Opinion) - At first, I thought there was nothing new in President Obama's speech about lesbian and gay civil rights, but then I thought again. Like many...

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Prayer Effort Seeks 'Right Thinking' From Liberals

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

All Things Considered - By Barbara Bradley Hagerty - Oct. 04 (Special Report) - A Christian conservative group, fearing a liberal drift in the country's leadership, has put 11 prominent politicians and activists on an "Adopt a Liberal" roster. They're asking God to help their targets change their stances on a variety of social issues.

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Marching Backwards: The Spectacle of Fear

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

TruthOut - By John Cory - Oct. 03 (Opinion) - Glenn Beck is not original, nor was Joe McCarthy. The "red scare" of McCarthyism was merely the recycled red scare of the 1920's, when Attorney General Mitchell Palmer and his right-hand assistant, J. Edgar Hoover, conducted warrantless raids on union halls and labor organizations deemed socialists or communists for their suspected anti-American, anti-corporate beliefs.

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Police Use Painful New Weapon on G20 Protesters

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

TruthOut - By Allison Kilkenny - Sep. 28 (News) - This technology has been deployed in Iraq as an "anti-insurgent weapon" - it could easily be used as a torture tool.

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Battle Looms Over the Patriot Act

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Charlie Savage - Sep. 20 (News Report) - As Congress prepares to consider extending provisions of the USA Patriot Act, civil liberties groups and Democratic lawmakers are gearing up to press for sweeping changes to surveillance laws.

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Beating Up Thurgood Marshall

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

TruthOut - By Sam Ferguson - Sep. 14 (Opinion) - Based on the tenor of the argument yesterday at the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court is poised to overrule the 1990 decision in Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce. If they do, corporations will be allowed to use general treasury funds to run advertisements and campaign on behalf of federal candidates. Corporate cash will flood our elections and special interests will be enshrined in the Constitution. But the blow will not just be to the proponents of campaign finance reform. It will be a stinging uppercut to the legacy of Justice Thurgood Marshall.

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Coming Soon to a Democracy Near You ...

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

TruthOut - By Michael Winship - Sep. 05 (Opinion) - In the world of money and politics, "Hillary: The Movie" may turn out to be the sleeper hit of the year, a boffo blockbuster. Depending on the outcome of a special Supreme Court hearing on September 9, this little piece of propaganda could unleash a new torrent of cash flooding into campaigns from big business, unions and other special interests. "Hillary: The Movie" may turn out to be "Frankenstein: The Monster."

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Back to School: Military Recruiters Increasingly Targeting High School Teens

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

TruthOut - By Juan Gonzalez - Sep. 04 (News) - Journalist David Goodman writes in the new issue of Mother Jones, quote, "Using data mining, stealth websites, career tests, and sophisticated marketing software, the Pentagon is harvesting and analyzing information on everything from high school students' GPAs and SAT scores to which video games they play. Before an Army recruiter even picks up the phone to call a prospect, the soldier may know more about the kid's habits than do his own parents."

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Rep. John Conyers: Why David Broder Is Wrong

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By John Conyers - Sep. 04 (Comment) - The decision whether to investigate possible crimes connected to our interrogation programs is simply not a political one.

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Appeals court rules against Ashcroft in 9/11 case

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - Sep. 04 (News Report) - A federal appeals court delivered a stinging rebuke Friday to the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 detention policies, ruling that former Attorney General John Ashcroft can be held liable for people who were wrongfully detained as material witnesses after 9/11. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the government's improper use of material witnesses after Sept. 11 was "repugnant to the Constitution and a painful reminder of some of the most ignominious chapters of our national history

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Obama formalizes Bush policy on digital searches and seizures

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

wsws.org - By Tom Eley - Sep. 01 (News) - The Obama administration disclosed on August 27 that it will carry on Bush administration policies that allowed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to seize and search international travelers' laptop computers, cellular phones, cameras, and other electronic devices, even in the absence of suspicion of criminal activity.

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Treatment of prisoner dents Obama promise to end such practices

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Times - By Leonard Pitts Jr. - Aug. 31 (Opinion) - No, this does not match the worst abuses of the Bush era, but it is close enough that it must surely disillusion and dismay those who thought a corner was turned on Jan. 20. It must leave them hoping that faith was not misplaced. Sometimes a dented promise is worse than no promise at all.

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Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy Dies at 77 After Cancer Battle

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Joe Holley - Aug. 26 (News Report) - Edward M. Kennedy, one of the most powerful and influential senators in American history and one of three brothers whose political triumphs and personal tragedies captivated the nation for decades, died late Tuesday at his home in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 77. He had been battling brain cancer.

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Glenn Greenwald on CIA Interrogation Probe, Obama and Why the Media Failed on Covering Torture

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Glenn Greewald, Anjali Kamat, Amy Goodman - Aug. 26 (News Analysis) - Attorney General Eric Holder has opened an inquiry into CIA torture. On Monday, Holder appointed veteran federal prosecutor John Durham to look into whether CIA interrogators and contractors should be charged for the torture and abuse of foreign prisoners. Holder says he ordered the probe in response to a Justice Department recommendation to reopen nearly a dozen prisoner abuse cases that the Bush administration had closed. Holder says he was further influenced by the 2004 CIA report on the prisoners’ torture and abuse, which he released on Monday.

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Cap-and-trade & Health Care & Insurance Reform I see these two issues as one and the same thing. The first one is to heal our planet, and the second is to heal our human bodies. Also, both issues have to deal with how the 'healing' is delievered and wh

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Foreign policy, EU news, climate, green technology, health. - Aug. 21 (Investigative Report) - Experts and politicians on whether health care reform will trump climate change.

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Threat Assessment: When Protesters Bring Guns to Health-Care Town Halls

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Mark Thompson - Aug. 19 (News Analysis) - The fact that protesters at President Obama's political events have begun showing up bearing arms may be disquieting, but it's perfectly legal — and the Secret Service, charged with protecting the President, insists that it is not unduly alarmed by the development. That's because while the Second Amendment guarantees Americans the right to carry guns, federal law also gives the Secret Service the right to keep gun-toting folks away from the President. ... But former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro thinks his former employer may be trying to put the best face on a bad situation. "The Secret Service is very concerned about this," says Petro, who spent 23 years as an agent, including four guarding President Reagan and his family. "It's hard enough to protect the President, and this is not helpful."

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Why Are Cops Tasering Grandmothers, Pregnant Women and Kids?

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Scott Thill - Aug. 17 (Special Report) - Thanks to the taser's wildfire deployment, classification as non-lethal weaponry and pop-cultural appeal in films, television, comics and even cartoons, cops have nearly lost their minds using it on everyone from children, the elderly, and pregnant mothers to the mentally unstable and physically disabled.

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7 Ways We Can Fight Back Against the Rising Fascist Threat

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Sara Robinson - Aug. 15 (Editorial) - It only takes a small handful of thugs to terrorize people into giving up their civil rights, abandoning democracy and doing what they're told, just so they can keep their jobs, windows and families intact.

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