“Without the video I would be in prison. There is no doubt about that.”
Source: Video clears Texas man of assaulting cop—did police commit perjury? | Ars Technica
Tag: USA
Police Officer Attempts To Set Record For Most Constitutional Violations In A Single Traffic Stop | Techdirt
FBI Says It Will Ignore Court Order If Told To Reveal Its Tor Browser Exploit, Because It Feels It’s Above The Law… | Techdirt
Illinois Police Department Pulls Plug On Body Cameras Because Accountability Is ‘A Bit Burdensome’ | Techdirt
Minooka Police Chief Justin Meyer said Friday the issue was not with the functionality of the cameras, but that it became a burden for staff to fill the many requests for video footage.
Judge Grants Torture Victims Their First Chance to Pursue Justice
This is the first time opponents of the CIA’s torture program will have the chance to seek discovery evidence in the case unimpeded by the government.
Source: Judge Grants Torture Victims Their First Chance to Pursue Justice
Ruling Unsealed: National Security Letters Upheld As Constitutional| Electronic Frontier Foundation
San Francisco – A federal judge has unsealed her ruling that National Security Letter (NSL) provisions in federal law—as amended by the USA FREEDOM Act—don’t violate the Constitution. The ruling allows the FBI to continue to issue the letters with accompanying gag orders that silence anyone from disclosing they have received an NSL, often for years.
Source: Ruling Unsealed: National Security Letters Upheld As Constitutional | Electronic Frontier Foundation
DOJ Reopens Asset Forfeiture Sharing Program After Temporary, Budget-Related Shutdown | Techdirt
The Justice Department has announced that it is resuming a controversial practice that allows local police departments to funnel a large portion of assets seized from citizens into their own coffers under federal law.
The “Equitable Sharing Program” gives police the option of prosecuting some asset forfeiture cases under federal instead of state law, particularly in instances where local law enforcement officers have a relationship with federal authorities as part of a joint task force. Federal forfeiture policies are more permissive than many state policies, allowing police to keep up to 80 percent of assets they seize.
Source: DOJ Reopens Asset Forfeiture Sharing Program After Temporary, Budget-Related Shutdown | Techdirt
Stupid Patent Of The Month: Mega-Troll Intellectual Ventures Hits Florist With Do-It-On-A-Computer Scheduling Patent | Techdirt
When it comes to patent trolls, no one is bigger than Intellectual Ventures. The Washington State-based behemoth is at the center of both patent trolling and the debate around patent reform. Though it claims to promote innovation, Intellectual Ventures is behind some of the most outrageous troll campaigns in recent years. Famous for hiding behind thousands of shell companies, it spawned Lodsys, the troll that harassed small app developers, and the Oasis Research litigation featured in This American Life.
This month, Intellectual Ventures filed some fresh lawsuits against targets including JCPenney, Sally Beauty, and flower delivery service Florists’ Transworld Delivery. We checked out the asserted patents to see if any deserved our Stupid Patent of the Month award. All were worthy candidates, but one in particular stood out.
Lawmaker: Bill Held Constitutional by “The Little Supreme Court in My Head” | Lowering the Bar
His little Supreme Court is apparently not split 4-4.
Source: Lawmaker: Bill Held Constitutional by “The Little Supreme Court in My Head” | Lowering the Bar
Senator Wyden Warns That The Justice Department Is Lying To The Courts; Also Still Worried About Secret Law | Techdirt
We’ve been noting for years: when Senator Ron Wyden says that (1) there’s a secret interpretation of a law that is at odds with the public’s understanding of it, or (2) that government officials are lying, you should pay attention.