A MassINC poll out today confirms that two-thirds of Massachusetts residents support treating substance use as a public health—not criminal justice—problem. An even larger margin supports ending mandatory minimum sentencing; only 8% of people polled said they preferred mandatory minimums to other...
Tomorrow is Election Day—finally. There’s a lot at stake in this contest, but no matter who wins, those of us who care about civil rights and civil liberties will continue to have our work cut out for us. Here are three...
Police departments across the country have gone to great lengths to keep secret information about cell phone tracking and wiretapping devices known as “stingrays.” These devices, technically called cell site simulators or IMSI catchers, trick cell phones into communicating with the cops,...
The New York Times reports activists from cities and towns across the country plan to descend on Cleveland this summer to protest the Republican National Convention and its presumptive nominee, Donald Trump. Deb Kline of Cleveland Jobs with Justice told a reporter she...
For years, the FBI has begged congress to address what it says is a “going dark” problem. In July 2015, FBI director James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee law enforcement needs broader powers to force companies to build “backdoors” into their encrypted systems....
Two big ACLU lawsuits are in the news this week. First, stingrays. My colleagues at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) successfully sued the NYPD to force the release of documents pertaining to the department’s use of controversial cell site simulators,...
By Nancy Murray, 2016 Table of Contents I. Introduction Twenty-first century ‘homeland security’ policing took over Watertown’s streets during the hunt for those responsible for the heinous attack on the 2013 Boston Marathon. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reportedly...
