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Category Archives: Congress

Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism – 2022

Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism – 2022 – “As required by the National Defense Authorization Act, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, have produced this strategic intelligence assessment on domestic terrorism, which includes a discussion of activities, certain data on domestic terrorism matters,… Continue Reading

Redacted Documents Are Not as Secure as You Think

Wired: “Popular redaction tools don’t always work as promised, and new attacks can reveal hidden information, researchers say. For years, if you wanted to protect sensitive text in a document, you could grab a pair of scissors or a scalpel and cut out the information. If this didn’t work, a chunky black marker pen would… Continue Reading

Survey of State Marriage Laws Related to Same-Sex Marriage

CRS Legal Sidebar – Survey of State Marriage Laws, November 22, 2022: “In 2015, the Supreme Court held in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry in all states and that states must accordingly recognize marriages validly performed out-of-state. Many states still have unenforceable constitutional amendments or state statutes… Continue Reading

Introducing Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra

Introducing Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra – “Sitting members of Congress aiding and abetting a plot to overthrow the government. Insurrectionists criminally charged with plotting to end American democracy for good. Justice Department prosecutors under crushing political pressure. Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra is the all-but-forgotten true story of good, old-fashioned American extremism getting supercharged by proximity… Continue Reading

Billionaires Provided 15 Percent of Funding for the Midterm

“In the 2022 midterms, the 100 largest donors collectively spent 60 percent more than every small donor in the United States combined, according to a Brennan Center analysis of publicly available data. (Small donors are those who give $200 or less.) The wealthy have always wielded disproportionate power over American government. In 1895, GOP strategist… Continue Reading

Private groups swaying SCOTUS litigation

Sen. Whitehouse and Rep. Johnson sent a letter to Chief Justice Roberts on September 7, 2022.”We write as Chairmen of the Senate and House Judiciary Federal Courts Subcommittees to request information regarding another allegation of potentially unethical conduct at the Supreme Court of the United States…“One of the nation’s most important institutions … has been… Continue Reading

Senators to FTC: Twitter’s willful disregard for the safety and security of its users

Six Senator’s wrote to FTC Chair Khan: “We write regarding Twitter’s serious, willful disregard for the safety and security of its users, and encourage the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate any breach of Twitter’s consent decree or other violations of our consumer protection laws. In recent weeks, Twitter’s new Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk,… Continue Reading

No, an indictment wouldn’t end Trump’s run for the presidency – he could even campaign or serve from a jail cell

Via LLRX – No, an indictment wouldn’t end Trump’s run for the presidency – he could even campaign or serve from a jail cell – Donald Trump announced his 2024 run for the presidency on Nov. 15. In his address he railed against what he perceived as the “persecution” of himself and his family, but made… Continue Reading

What Is the Filibuster and How Can the Senate Reform It?

Democracy Docket: “In June, Senate Republicans blocked a landmark piece of voting rights legislation, the For the People Act. In October, they blocked a revised, compromised version, the Freedom to Vote Act. In November, it was the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that failed. If Democrats hold a slim majority in the U.S. Senate,… Continue Reading

The Constitution’s Disqualification Clause Can Be Enforced Today

POGO: “The attack on the United States Capitol complex to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election on January 6, 2021, led to the first application of the disqualification clause contained in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in more than a century. Section 3 prohibits public office holders who have taken an oath… Continue Reading

How Oil & Gas Funding Distorts Energy Research

Gizmodo: “Prominent energy centers at MIT, Stanford, and Columbia may be biased toward natural gas because of funding, a new study says Journalists like me often seek out academics for comment and insight on stories related to the energy transition, since these professors have often done in-depth research into various fuel sources and their impacts.… Continue Reading

Digital Security and Reproductive Rights: Lessons for Feminist Cyberlaw

Meister, Michela and Levy, Karen, Digital Security and Reproductive Rights: Lessons for Feminist Cyberlaw (October 31, 2022). Feminist Cyberlaw (Meg Leta Jones and Amanda Levendowski, eds.), University of California Press, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4262774 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4262774 – “Reproductive rights in the United States are under threat, and the threat is growing more serious by… Continue Reading