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Category Archives: Civil Liberties

Access to abortion pills has grown since Dobbs

Vox: “Eighteen months after the Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned the constitutional right to abortion, and with a new Supreme Court challenge pending against the abortion medication mifepristone, confusion abounds about access to reproductive health care in America. Since the June 2022 decision, abortion rates in states with restrictions have plummeted, and researchers estimated… Continue Reading

DOJ Launches National Law Enforcement Accountability Database

DOJ Press Release: “In Executive Order 14074, Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety, the President declared a policy to “make policing safer and more effective by strengthening trust between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.” As explained by the Executive Order, one of the… Continue Reading

Behind the Scenes at the Dismantling of Roe

The New York Times [read free]: Behind the Scenes at the Dismantling of Roe. On Feb. 10 last year, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. showed his eight colleagues how he intended to uproot the constitutional right to abortion. At 11:16 a.m., his clerk circulated a 98-page draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.… Continue Reading

Thomas privately pushed for a higher salary and to allow Supreme Court justices to take speaking fees

PrpPublica: “In early January 2000, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was at a five-star beach resort in Sea Island, Georgia, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. After almost a decade on the court, Thomas had grown frustrated with his financial situation, according to friends. He had recently started raising his young grandnephew, and Thomas’… Continue Reading

5 Takeaways From Inside the Overturning of Roe v. Wade

The New York Times – A Times investigation [read free] reveals the behind-the-scenes story of how the Supreme Court abolished the constitutional right to abortion. “By the time the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, a draft of the ruling had been leaked to the press and the outcome was anticipated. The story… Continue Reading

Care Post-Roe: Documenting cases of poor-quality care since the Dobbs decision

New Data Show Nearly One in Five US Abortion Patients Are Traveling Out of State for Care – December 2023 update – The Guttmacher Institute has released new data from the Monthly Abortion Provision Study, which tracks monthly estimates of procedural and medication abortions provided in the formal US health care system. In addition to… Continue Reading

Gender-Based Violence as a Weapon of War during the October 7 Hamas Attack

Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) – preliminary report, November 26, 2023. “As time goes on, a fuller picture of what transpired during Hamas’ October 7, 2023, assault on the communities of the Gaza Envelope is beginning to emerge. It is becoming more apparent that the violence perpetrated against women, men, and children also included… Continue Reading

Automakers’ data privacy practices “are unacceptable”

Ars Technica: “US Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is one of the more technologically engaged of our elected lawmakers. And like many technologically engaged Ars Technica readers, he does not like what he sees in terms of automakers’ approach to data privacy. On Friday, Sen. Markey wrote to 14 car companies with a variety of questions… Continue Reading

AI and Trust

Schneier on Security – “…Interpersonal trust and social trust are both essential in society today. This is how it works. We have mechanisms that induce people to behave in a trustworthy manner, both interpersonally and socially. This, in turn, allows others to be trusting. Which enables trust in society. And that keeps society functioning. The… Continue Reading

LLRX November 2023

The November 2023 issue of LLRX has 9 new articles and 6 new columns: AI in Banking and Finance, November 30, 2023 ; AI in Banking and Finance – November 16, 2023 – This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government reports, industry white papers, academic papers and speeches on the subject of AI’s… Continue Reading

2022 Country Reports on Terrorism

“The Department of State issued the 2022 Country Reports on Terrorism (CRT). Each year, the CRT provides insight on important issues in the fight against terrorism and helps the United States make informed decisions about policies, programs, and resource allocations as we seek to build counterterrorism capacity and resilience around the globe. As the United… Continue Reading

How Citizen Surveillance Ate San Francisco

Wired: “…In San Francisco there’s always another video. New York and London are known for being blanketed with government-run CCTV coverage, but surveillance here is different: It is as privatized as it is pervasive, a culture of Hitchcock’s Rear Window, at scale. In the city where Nextdoor’s offices sit right in the gritty Tenderloin, sharing… Continue Reading