The FBI and the Obama Justice Department want courts to force Apple to act as a government spy by writing new code to break iPhone security features. FBI director Jim Comey claims he is singularly concerned with getting access to information on the...
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,...
Granting the ACLU and the public access to staffing, budgetary, and statistical information about the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and FBI would mean “the public would know where the FBI was putting its resources,” warned an Assistant US Attorney in...
New reporting on the fallout at the University of Missouri over student protests alleging administration racism reveals that the FBI has been tracking the movements of “a significant Ferguson protester,” most likely DeRay Mckesson. Student activists and the UM football team succeeded in...
Brandeis is hosting a bunch of great social justice related events in a series called Deis Impact. Among the many fantastic events is a screening of the 2014 documentary about the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI’s 1971 robbery of a Media, Pennsylvania...
The ACLU of Massachusetts this week filed a public records request with the Boston Police Department (BPD) seeking information about its cell phone tracking technology. For too long, the department’s use of controversial cell site simulators has been shrouded in an FBI-mandated cloud of...
A few years back, I presented ACLU testimony before the Boston City Council, urging city officials to reject a proposal to require certain civil license applicants to send their fingerprints to the FBI for criminal background checks as a condition of employment. In...
Head over to the Intercept to see a beautifully produced, disturbing film about an FBI sting operation against left-wing environmentalists. Using FBI secret wiretaps and undercover videos, the short film follows "Anna," a paid FBI informant, as she seduces Eric McDavid. McDavid was later convicted of federal terrorism offenses and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Today FBI director James Comey spoke before the Senate Judiciary Committee. His written testimony is remarkable not only for what it included, but also for what it excluded. I’m going to imitate the Harpers Index to illustrate his remarks in context.