Civil Liberties & Privacy

Guantánamo Uighers Back in Legal Limbo

by Andy Worthington March 9, 2010

Last Monday, the Supreme Court declined to review a case brought on behalf of seven men in Guantánamo whose release into the United States ordered by a U.S. judge 17 months ago. The men in question are Uighurs, Muslims from Chinas Xinjiang province, and the ruling ordering them to be re-housed in the United States was made in ...

The Folly of Blindly Trusting the Government

by James Bovard March 1, 2010

Democracy breeds gullibility. Lord Bryce observed in 1921, “State action became less distrusted the more the State itself was seen to be passing under popular control.” The rise of democracy made it much easier for politicians to convince people that government posed no threat, because they automatically controlled its actions. The result is that the brakes on government power ...

The Feds’ Post–9/11 Airport-Worker Purge

by James Bovard February 1, 2010

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the federal government feared that people would lose faith in the government’s promise to protect them. The feds had dismally failed to stop the 19 hijackers who took down four planes and sowed panic from coast to coast. So the government did what it does best: Round up the usual suspects. Starting in ...

The Only Way to Get Money out of Politics

by Sheldon Richman January 28, 2010

Last week’s Supreme Court ruling striking down the ban on corporate and union spending at election time is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, removing a legal barrier to free speech is always a good thing in itself. Government shouldn’t dictate who can speak or from where people may get their information. This is more ...

Prosecuting the Bush Administration’s Torturers

by Andy Worthington March 23, 2009

Its a sign of how much the Bush administration skewed Americas moral compass that we are currently facing the possibility that the only way to bring the torturers to account is through a Nonpartisan Commission Of Inquiry essentially, a toothless truth and reconciliation commission of the type proposed by Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ...

From Checks and Balances to Executive Despotism (video)

by Bruce Fein January 23, 2009

On June 8, 2008, Bruce Fein gave the following Speech at FFF’s conference Restoring the Republic 2008: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties. The speech can viewed below in its entirety.

Video Message 2: The Importance of Civil Liberties

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 8, 2008

The Rapid Decline of Transparency and Privacy in America (video)

by Jonathan Turley November 28, 2008

On June 7, 2008, Jonathan Turley gave the following Speech at FFF’s conference Restoring the Republic 2008: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties. The speech can viewed below in its entirety.

The 2008 Candidates and Civil Liberties — A New Path or More of the Same? (video)

by Glenn Greenwald November 19, 2008

On June 7, 2008, Glenn Greenwald gave the following Speech at FFF’s conference Restoring the Republic 2008: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties. The speech can viewed below in its entirety.

20 Reasons to Shut Down The Guantnamo Trials

by Andy Worthington November 17, 2008

As Barack Obama and his transition team begin looking at ways to fulfill the President-elects pledge to close Guantánamo, Andy Worthington, author of The Guantánamo Files, recalls that Barack Obama also promised to reject the Military Commissions Act (the legislation that revived the system of terror trials conjured up in the office ...

Bush’s War on Civil Liberties

by James Bovard October 10, 2008

On June 6, 2008, James Bovard gave the following Speech at FFF’s conference Restoring the Republic 2008: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties. The speech can viewed below in its entirety.

Are Democrats Better on Privacy and Surveillance?

by James Bovard September 1, 2008

The Bush administration has probably illegally violated Americans’ privacy more than any presidency in at least a generation. Many Americans are understandably ready to throw out Republicans who trampled the Bill of Rights. But is the solution to elect a Democrat? Many liberals were shocked in July when putative Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama ...