Senate Judiciary Committee Subpoenas White House, Cheney's Office

The Senate Judiciary Committee today issued subpoenas the White House and Vice President Cheney's office for documents about the administration's warrantless eavesdropping program. This is a welcomed move by the committee and is long overdue. The questionable program has been under fire for bypassing the Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA) and potentially violating Fourth Amendment rights.

Enemy Combatant Ruling

Ali al-Marri, a legal U-S resident, has been held as an enemy combatant since December 2001. In a 2-1 decision, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government cannot declare a US citizen an "enemy combatant," and then lock them up and deny them access to courts indefinitely.

Eyes in the Sky

In the latest attack on the privacy rights of inhabitants of or visitors to the Big Apple, New York City’s Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, is proposing to deploy a number of ‘airborne platforms’ or blimp-like devices, over the skies of the city through which the police could monitor, record and retain information about what is transpiring on city streets and rooftops. While the Commissioner says the ‘stationary airborne platforms’ would aid in fighting crime and terrorism – of course – the negative privacy implications are obvious and profound; not that any such concerns would enter into the city’s decision.