Category Archives: Civil Liberties

Police Demand Shop Install Surveillance, Give Cops Full Feed, and also Right to Ban Customers

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Michael Froomkin

This story in the New Times seems outrageous:

But in September, the city suddenly declared the store a nuisance, citing drug deals made nearby. And the Nuisance Abatement Board made a long series of demands, including one that struck Corine as beyond strange: To get back in good standing, she needed to install 24/7 security cameras that would allow police constant live-feed access to the store.

The board also required Corine give police the power to remove people from her property. Officers quickly made a list of people the police department had decided were banned from Bradley’s and began arresting people for trespassing, though Corine says they were just shopping.

via Bradley's Market In Overtown Sues City After Police Demand Constant Surveillance, Boot Customers | Miami New Times.

There is a slight twist to the backstory: after a generation or two as one of Miami’s most blighted neighborhoods, Overtown is now suddenly the target of redevelopment. So part of the story may be an attempt to drive out a store that is surrounded by vacant lots in order to make up a nice parcel….

Posted in Miami, Surveillance | Comments Off on Police Demand Shop Install Surveillance, Give Cops Full Feed, and also Right to Ban Customers

This is What an Informer Society Looks Like

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Michael Froomkin

Miamians Are Going on Twitter to Ask Donald Trump to Deport Their Exes.

According to the New Times, “dozens of folks,” many in the Miami area, are tweeting addresses and photos, some cc’ing the police, in the hopes of getting their revenge. They have screenshots of examples.

Posted in Civil Liberties, Trump | 1 Comment

The Most Disturbing News Article of the Week?

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Michael Froomkin

And it isn’t even directly about Donald Trump. Or then again maybe it is.

Across numerous countries, including Australia, Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States, the percentage of people who say it is “essential” to live in a democracy has plummeted, and it is especially low among younger generations.

— Amanda Taub, How Stable Are Democracies? ‘Warning Signs Are Flashing Red’

This graph says it all:

xxint-essential-democracy-jumbo

Posted in Civil Liberties, Politics: International | 2 Comments

Take the George Washington Pledge

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Michael Froomkin

Harold Feld launches it:

“I pledge to give to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. I pledge to work toward a world where everyone may sit under their own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make them afraid. A world that scatters light and not darkness in our paths, and makes us all in our several vocations useful here, and in due time and way everlastingly happy.”

Also 20 ideas on how to navigate the coming times from Yale History Prof. Timothy Synder. Here are just the first three:

1. Do not obey in advance. Much of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then start to do it without being asked. You’ve already done this, haven’t you? Stop. Anticipatory obedience teaches authorities what is possible and accelerates unfreedom.

2. Defend an institution. Follow the courts or the media, or a court or a newspaper. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you are making them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions don’t protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless each is defended from the beginning.

3. Recall professional ethics. When the leaders of state set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become much more important. It is hard to break a rule-of-law state without lawyers, and it is hard to have show trials without judges.

Posted in Civil Liberties, Trump | 2 Comments

Vindicating Your Voting Rights

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Michael Froomkin

voting-rights

If you feel your right to vote has been impeded by a “poll watcher” or anyone else, call 800 253-3931 to reach the FBI Civil Rights Division hotline.

Posted in 2016 Election, Civil Liberties, Law: Elections | Comments Off on Vindicating Your Voting Rights

How Snowden Might Hurt Privacy

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Michael Froomkin

In addition to the good things Edward Snowden did by alerting us to the reality of NSA surveillance, there is one way in which I think his revelations may hurt privacy. This is not to say that on balance his revelations were unjustified, just that there’s a complexity about the long-run consequence of his disclosure that we should keep an eye on.

Before Snowden, the fact of NSA’s collection was a very highly protected secret. Consequently, there was only limited data sharing with law enforcement, and then only on condition that the fact of the NSA’s role never show up in court. Now that the cover is blown, so to speak, we should expect not only covert inter-agency data sharing to increase, but also a prohibition on letting it into court. Maybe not open court, but perhaps in a closed hearing, or secret brief. Likely beneficiaries are the DEA, the FBI, and maybe even some local cops in big target cities like New York or DC?

So, perversely, I expect Snowden’s revelations to have a limited negative consequence for privacy to balance against however we measure the positives.

Note: I could have sworn I posted something about this previously, but EPIC‘s Marc Rotenberg said he hadn’t seen it, and I couldn’t find it, so this one’s for you Marc.

Posted in Civil Liberties, Law: Criminal Law | Comments Off on How Snowden Might Hurt Privacy