VentureBeat: “Real-time captions and subtitles are heading to PowerPoint and Skype, the company today revealed in a pair of announcements timed to coincide with the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities (UN IDPD). “The word ‘empower’ means a lot to every Microsoft employee, it’s a key word in our mission ‘to empower every person… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Civil Liberties
New study from NC confirms some long-held folk wisdom about race and juries
The New York Times – Prof. Ronald Wright – “A new study from North Carolina confirms some long-held folk wisdom about race and juries. The good news is there are two doable solutions. Race, as a matter of constitutional principle, cannot factor into the selection of jurors for criminal trials. But in the American justice… Continue Reading
Secret Service tests facial recognition system at the White House
FCW.com: “The Secret Service started testing a facial recognition system in and around the White House last week, according to a privacy assessment released by the Department of Homeland Security on Nov. 28. The pilot uses a facial recognition system, unnamed in the privacy document, to pore over faces collected by the Crown closed circuit… Continue Reading
Asylum Decisions and Denials Jump in 2018
“Fiscal year 2018 broke records for the number of decisions by immigration judges granting or denying asylum. Denials grew faster than grants, pushing denial rates up as well. In 65 percent of these decisions asylum was denied. This is the sixth year in a row that denial rates have risen. Six years ago the denial… Continue Reading
U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Total Dips to Lowest Level in a Decade
“The number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to new Pew Research Center estimates based on 2016 government data. The decline is due almost entirely to a sharp decrease in the number of Mexicans entering the country without authorization. But the Mexican border remains… Continue Reading
How to Get Your Lawmakers to Listen
ProPublica – “In our final installment of the User’s Guide to Democracy, we asked a live panel of congressional experts to help you stay engaged in politics after the midterms have ended. Congress Works For You. Here’s How to Be a Better Boss.” [h/t Pete Weiss] “You did it! In this month’s midterm election, you… Continue Reading
How China Walled Off the Internet
The New York Times – “Today, China has the world’s only internet companies that can match America’s in ambition and reach. It is years ahead of the United States in replacing paper money with smartphone payments, turning tech giants into vital gatekeepers of the consumer economy. And it is host to a supernova of creative… Continue Reading
The Anti-Defamation League’s reading list for children
ADL – “Books Matter. Books have the potential to create lasting impressions. They have the power to instill empathy, affirm children’s sense of self, teach about others, transport to new places and inspire actions on behalf of social justice.” Users may search the more than 750 recommended books, as well as browse using these topics:… Continue Reading
Remembering the Howard University Librarian Who Decolonized the Way Books Were Catalogued
Smithsonian Magazine – Dorothy Porter challenged the racial bias in the Dewey Decimal System, putting black scholars alongside white colleagues “In a 1995 interview with Linton Weeks of the Washington Post, the Howard University librarian, collector and self-described “bibliomaniac” Dorothy Porter reflected on the focus of her 43-year career: “The only rewarding thing for me… Continue Reading
Paper – Silencing Discipline in Legal Education
Jewel, Lucille A., Silencing Discipline in Legal Education (April 6, 2018). University of Toledo Law Review, Vol. 49, 2018. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3271967 “In current times, the production of critical legal knowledge has become constrained by a neoliberal education mindset that emphasizes economic performance and measured outcomes over critical thought. In this essay, I argue… Continue Reading
15 state attorneys general back Maryland in challenging Whitaker’s appointment
The Hill: “The attorneys general from 14 states and Washington, D.C., are urging a federal district court judge to block Matthew Whitaker from continuing to serve as Acting U.S. attorney general. The state attorneys general filed a friend of the court brief in support of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh’s request on Nov. 13 for… Continue Reading
Raising the profile of animal law to match the stakes
Harvard program aims to protect more than wildlife – “According to Harvard Law School lecturer Jonathan Lovvorn, saving the planet and its inhabitants from climate catastrophe begins with the world’s most vulnerable population: animals. “We have populations everywhere around the world in environmental distress, in economic distress, in political distress,” said Lovvorn, who is senior… Continue Reading
