Legislation

Drug War, Legislation, Liberty, Lifestyle, Marijuana

Legalization Approaches

In 2016, recreational marijuana reform may be on the ballot in nearly a dozen states and Sullum is optimistic. With support for recreational marijuana polling at a record-high 58 percent, it’s only a question of how many states legalize in next year’s elections.

Sullum believes that California, the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, is the best bet for passage and the most influential state in play….

Via Recreational Pot Will Be Legal Just About Everywhere Soon @ Reason.com.

Free Speech, Legislation, Surveillance

Overbroad Speech-Reporting Requirements 

“Campaign for Liberty has joined a broad coalition of organizations from across the political spectrum on a letter to the Senate leadership expressing opposition to a provision of the Senate Intelligence Authorization bill that requires websites to report online comments to the government if the provider “has knowledge” that the commentary is involved in terrorist…

Law, Legislation, Liberty, Lifestyle

Let’s Motor

“Last week, the legislature passed a bill ensuring that Dreamers with DACA — and anyone else with deferred action — are eligible for driver’s licenses. When the governor vetoed the bill, the senators stood strong, and voted 34-10 to override the veto. This vote is a victory for Dreamers, and for all Nebraskans.”

Via Nebraska Legislature Overrides Governor’s Veto and Gives Dreamers Their License to Drive @ American Civil Liberties Union.

Congress, Legislation, Patriot Act, Privacy, Surveillance

Slipping away

“But, the bigger surprise: even with a deadline looming, warnings of impending doom from surveillance justifiers, and pressure from Senate leadership, the extension received less support than the reform bill. In other words, more senators believe that the prospect of completely losing some surveillance authority is less damaging than allowing the government to continue its…

Legislation, Trade

What are they building in there?

“A broad, sweeping, global treaty which will/may fundamentally shift how trade is done in the world and in the USA is still secret and thanks to Senate Republicans is halfway to getting “fast track” status. That is the treaty will be voted on for final approval by Congress with a simple “yes” or “no” vote,…

Fear Uncertainty Doubt, Federal Government, Legislation, Military, Patriot Act, Surveillance

FUD

“In a last-ditch effort to scare lawmakers into preserving unpopular and much-abused surveillance authorities, the Senate Republican leadership and some intelligence officials are warning that allowing Section 215 of the Patriot Act to sunset would compromise national security. (One particularly crass example from Senator Lindsey Graham: “Anyone who neuters this program is going to be…

Legislation, Liberty, Patriot Act, Privacy, Surveillance

Defender of the Surveillance State

“On the other side is a camp led by Mitch McConnell, who has proposed legislation extending the government’s spying powers without any new limitations or safeguards. Even before Thursday, McConnell’s case against reform was grounded in an almost surreal denial of the facts about the NSA program. McConnell has insisted that the NSA’s telephone program…

Government Spending, Legislation, Military, War

More war, less debate

“…. the House majority slipped into the military spending bill an extra $89 billion for an emergency war fund. Such “emergency” spending is not addressed in the growth caps placed on the military under the 2011 budget control act. It is a loophole filled by Congress with Fed-printed money. Ironically, a good deal of this…

Congress, Law, Legislation, Liberty, Patriot Act, Privacy, Surveillance

The Patriot Act Balance of Power

“If Section 215 sunsets, pro-reform advocates will have  more leverage to push for stronger surveillance reforms than those currently on the table, because the new status quo will tip more in favor of those who oppose mass surveillance under the Patriot Act. However, they will have to strongly push back against fearmongering from anti-reformists and…

Legislation, Liberty, Patriot Act, Privacy, Surveillance

Defending a Free Society

“The focus of the senator’s alarm, and rightly so, was a pair of bipartisan renewal bills in both houses that fall short of remedying the problem. The bills would cut back, but not end, the domestic phone-data sweeps that eroded individual rights while accomplishing little in protecting the nation. They avoid the issue of bulk…

Business, Cato, Internet, Law, Legislation, Libertarians, Liberty, New Media, Open Government, Surveillance

Snowden @ Cato Surveillance Summit

This inaugural Cato Institute Surveillance Conference will explore these questions, guided by a diverse array of experts: top journalists and privacy advocates; lawyers and technologists; intelligence officials … and those who’ve been targets of surveillance. Most notably is Edward Snowden, a former NSA Contractor and renowned whistleblower who leaked classified information from the National Security…

Blogging, Law, Legislation, Press

Who in the Wiki-Age is a journalist?

Incumbent politicians hope to define journalism their way: A new Senate bill to protect journalists has stirred up a hornet’s nest of criticism over an old nagging question: Who in the age of WikiLeaks is a “journalist”? A bill called the Free Flow of Information Act of 2013 was sent by the Senate Judiciary Committee…

Blogging, Free Speech, Law, Legislation, Liberty, New Media, Press

Government’s Only Recognized Dateline is a Bottom Line

Government protections come at a price: Also this past July, the Department of Justice issued a review of their news-media policies. While some protections were provided to “professional” reporters, it’s clear that any journalist who isn’t employed by a major news company would not enjoy the same protections. As Electronic Frontier Foundation activist Morgan Weiland…