U.S. News/Police Violence
Abu Ghraib Torture Dejà Vu: CACI Premier Technology Claims Their Employees Have Qualified Immunity Because They Were Employed By The US Army
As reflected in the opening statement last week by John F. O’Connor Jr., an attorney for CACI, their defense relies on a stipulation in contract law called “borrowed servant.” Borrowed servant doctrine holds an employer liable for the actions of a temporary employee acting under the employer’s control and not the employee, as the judge explained to the jury in the first trial. In this case, the employer – the U.S. Army – invokes immunity for its actions in a war zone. CACI supplied the “borrowed servants” to the U.S. military to conduct interrogations, but was not legally responsible for what the employees did or did not do.
https://www.justsecurity.org/104586/abu-ghraib-retrial/
China Hack Enabled Vast Spying on U.S. Officials
https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/china-hack-enabled-vast-spying-on-u-s-officials-likely-ensnaring-thousands-of-contacts-1340ba4a
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/11/02/china-spying-telecom-trump-harris-fbi-cell-phone/
Ukraine slams Google for revealing location of military sites
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-google-reveal-location-military-site/
A Former Prosecutor Spends Over 2 Minutes Lamenting Trump’s Victory
“I think that going forward, the convicted felon box on employment applications need to be taken off because if you can be the president of the United States, then you should not be prevented from employment in this country because I remember applying for my jobs as a federal prosecutor, and there was a box for convicted felons. So that box better be taken off,” Sunny Hostin a former federal prosecutor said.
https://dailycaller.com/2024/11/06/the-view-sunny-hostin-trumps-victory-2024/
Lindsey Graham sends warning to special counsel Jack Smith
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/lindsey-graham-trump-scotus-jack-smith
Mike Davis to Letitia James: ‘We Will Put Your Fat Ass in Prison’
“Let me just say this to Big Tish James.… I dare you to try to continue your lawfare against President Trump in his second term. Because listen here sweetheart, we’re not messing around this time,” Davis ranted on a podcast. “And we will put your fat ass in prison for conspiracy against rights, I promise you that.”
https://newrepublic.com/post/188192/trump-ag-hopeful-mike-davis-target-revenge-letitia-james
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-davis-letitia-james-fat-ass-comment_n_672de5a9e4b0933e82c99ab2
How Supreme Court Justice Roberts Brought Back Trump
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/11/supreme-court-donald-trump-reelection/
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor faces pressure to retire
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/justice-sonia-sotomayor-faces-pressure-retire-ahead-trump
Will Trump Bail NYC Mayor Adams Out of His Legal Troubles? Prosecutors Say It May Be Easier Said Than Done
https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/11/07/eric-adams-donald-trump-pardon/
Trump Says He Wouldn't Mind Journalists Getting Shot
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-says-he-doesn-t-mind-someone-shooting-at-journalists-at-rally/ar-AA1tqOXt
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-shoot-reporters
Secret Service uses robotic dogs to patrol Mar-a-Lago to help protect Trump
https://www.wfla.com/nexstar-news-wire/robotic-dogs-are-patrolling-mar-a-lago-to-help-protect-trump-secret-service-confirms/
BS Warning: Ohio sheriff apologizes for 'won't help Democrats' post, blames sleep medication
https://abc7.com/post/lt-john-rodgers-ohio-sheriffs-lieutenant-apologizes-wont-help-democrats-post-blames-sleep-medication/15509863
Flaw in Right-Wing ‘Election Integrity’ App Exposes Voter-Suppression Plan and User Data
https://www.wired.com/story/true-the-vote-votealert-app-flaw-user-emails-voter-suppression-plan/
A Group of America First Groypers Gave Illegal Hot Dogs and Burgers to Trump Voters
https://www.wired.com/story/groypers-illegally-gave-hot-dogs-and-burgers-to-trump-voters/
All But 3 State Attorneys General Call for Peaceful Transfer of Power
https://www.commondreams.org/news/peaceful-transfer-of-power
Human Rights Watch: Second Trump Term a Threat to Rights in US, World
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/06/us-second-trump-term-threat-rights-us-world-0
The Worst People in the World Are Making a Ton of Money After Trump’s Victory
"Private prisons, crypto, banks, and the stock-market in general are all soaring at the news of Trump’s return to the White House."
https://gizmodo.com/the-worst-people-in-the-world-are-making-a-ton-of-money-after-trumps-victory-2000521095
Private Prison Companies Call Trump’s Deportation Plans ‘Unprecedented Opportunity'
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-deportation-plans-private-prisons-opportunity_n_672d3faae4b01e5999fc97c0
Arizonans Approve Police Arrests Of Illegal Entrants
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/arizona-passes-ballot-measure-authorizing-arrest-deportation-of-illegal-immigrants/
Tucker Carlson Says Abortions Cause Hurricanes
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/us/politics/tucker-carlson-hurricanes-abortion-demonic-nuclear-weapons.html
Rally for homeless at Springfield, MA City Hall Saturday calls for real solutions
“If the city (police) allowed the sanctioned encampments, instead of chasing the homeless around, they could save on their resources,” said David Webb, a city resident who attended the rally to support the unhoused community. “We need solutions, not propaganda for show.”
https://www.telegram.com/story/news/2024/11/03/rally-for-homeless-sat-calls-for-city-sanctioned-encampments/76028930007/
The CDC Planned Quarantine Camps Nationwide
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-cdc-planned-quarantine-camps-nationwide/
The Looming Fight to Make Local Cops Part of Trump’s Deportation Machine
https://theintercept.com/2024/11/08/trump-immigration-arizona-prop-314/
Administrative Arrest Warrants: Armed ICE Encounters Outside the Judicial Process
"This Article considers three related questions. First, is a person “seized” under the Fourth Amendment when law enforcement restricts a person’s movements in their home and limits their ability to leave or go about their business? Second, does the answer to this seizure inquiry turn on the person’s citizenship status? And third, how do lawyers ensure that courts discard bad law? Part I restates the opening hypothetical by explaining how ICE officers are legally permitted to issue, without judicial oversight, administrative arrest warrants. This statutory authority should, nonetheless, be evaluated using Fourth Amendment doctrine that limits exceptions to judicial warrants when law enforcement acts in, or just outside, the home."
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4990887
ICE seeks partner to implement a comprehensive non-citizen biometric supervision program
https://executivegov.com/2024/11/ice-supervision-program-request-for-information/
Trump Might Get Unfettered Surveillance Powers
https://theintercept.com/2024/11/05/trump-surveillance-power/
EFF Lawsuit Discloses Documents Detailing Government’s Social Media Surveillance of Immigrants
"The released documents show. For example, the terms of the contracting request specify that the government sought a system that could: analyze and apply techniques to exploit publicly available information, such as media, blogs, public hearings, conferences, academic websites, social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedln, radio, television, press, geospatial sources, internet sites, and specialized publications with intent to extract pertinent information regarding individuals.That document and another one make explicit that one purpose of the surveillance and analysis is to identify derogatory information about Visa applicants and other visitors. The vague phrase is broad enough to potentially capture any online expression that is critical of the U.S. government or its actions."
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/11/eff-lawsuit-discloses-documents-detailing-governments-social-media-surveillance
https://epic.org/epic-coalition-send-letter-to-dhs-regarding-2-million-contract-with-paragon-solutions-inc/
Coalition Letter To DHS Regarding $2M Contract With Israeli Spyware Vendor Paragon Solutions
"Paragon Solutions’ flagship product, Graphite, is a known spyware technology which can extract data from encrypted messages on apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Signal."
https://epic.org/documents/coalition-letter-to-dhs-re-paragon-contract/
DHS Focus on "Soft Targets" Risks Out-of-Control Surveillance
https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/dhs-focus-on-soft-targets-risks-out-of-control-surveillance
Why Signal Refuses to Give Government Backdoor Access to Americans’ Encrypted Communications
It's a moot point when DHS uses Paragon Solutions to hack Signal messages.
https://www.protectprivacynow.org/news/why-signal-refuses-to-give-government-backdoor-access-to-americans-encrypted-communications
Olivia Rodrigo’s Mistaken Identity Nightmare By Florida Cops While Disembarking From Cruise Ship
https://ij.org/olivia-rodrigos-mistaken-identity-nightmare-highlights-horrifying-ordeals-other-americans-endure-because-of-lazy-policing/
TSA launches smartphone-based digital ID scheme
"Trying to opt out of REAL-ID by getting a noncompliant license or state ID remains a deceptive sham — information about you will still be included in the national REAL-ID database."
https://papersplease.org/wp/2024/11/04/tsa-launches-smartphone-based-digital-id-scheme/#more-19101
What will the future bring for ID demands?
"These travel ID mandates and the travel tracking and control schemes they enable were first deployed in the US, largely without bothering to obtain Congressional approval (although also largely without Congressional objection). They have since been adopted by Canada, the European Union, and worldwide through the UN Security Council and the UN-affiliated International Civil Aviation Organization. Similar ID mandates and travel tracking and control schemes have been implemented simultaneously but somewhat independently (although for similarly malign reasons) in China — integrated with the Chinese government’s “social credit” scheme of surveillance, profiling, and control — and in other countries. Authoritarian regimes from across the spectrum have been happy to collaborate with the US on global standards — disregarding and/or purporting to override human rights treaties — for mandatory surveillance of individuals’ activities and movements worldwide."
https://papersplease.org/wp/2024/11/05/what-will-the-future-bring-for-id-demands/
IDEMIA and SITA work together to create digital ID airline passenger monopoly
https://www.idemia.com/news/idemia-and-sita-join-forces-create-open-digital-travel-ecosystem-2024-11-07
IDEMIA delivers upgraded Multibiometric Identification System (MBIS) to INTERPOL
https://www.idemia.com/press-release/idemia-public-security-ips-delivers-upgraded-multibiometric-identification-system-mbis-interpol-providing-latest-generation-algorithms-2024-11-07
IDEMIA and SECURE Systems launch Morphwave fingerprint scanner
https://www.idemia.com/news/idemia-and-secure-systems-launch-innovative-biometric-access-control-solution-first-market-meet-anssi-compliance-standard-2024-11-04
Privacy Lawsuit Against Clearview AI is About Protecting People’s Rights, Not Silencing Clearview AI’s “Speech”
https://epic.org/epic-privacy-lawsuit-against-clearview-ai-is-about-protecting-peoples-rights-not-silencing-clearview-ais-speech/
https://epic.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Clearview_Appeal_TJLP_EPIC_CFA_Brief_FINAL.pdf
Uber to use CLEAR facial recognition to ID passengers nationwide
https://ir.clearme.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/130/uber-and-clear-partner-to-enhance-rider-verification
Chase Stadium, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood to use Veridas facial recognition
"In 2024 alone, Veridas has already facilitated over 50M facial accesses and has deployed more than 3000 facial terminals worldwide, a unique deployment."
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241013523114/en/Veridas-Increases-Global-Leadership-in-Facial-Access-Technology-Partnering-with-Soccerex-at-Inter-Miami-FCs-Chase-Stadium-and-Seminole-Hard-Rock-Hotel-and-Casino-Hollywood
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl to use ID.me facial recognition to ID customers
https://chick-fil-apeachbowl.com/news/2024/11/7/general-chick-fil-a-peach-bowl-teams-up-with-id-me-to-secure-ticket-purchasing-experience.aspx
Pubinno and IDmission Launch Automated Facial Recognition Beer Taps At Sporting Events
https://pubinno.com/blog/pubinno-and-idmission-launch-automated-draft-beer-sales-for-sports-events
Walmart Tests Customer's Mobile ID for Access to Locked-up Products
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/walmart-antidote-locked-products-key-154840235.html
Precise Biometrics and Crunchfish to create "Hand Gesture" biometrics
https://precisebiometrics.com/mfn_news/precise-biometrics-signs-hand-gesture-software-agreement-with-crunchfish/
Protest Under a Surveillance State Microscope
"Technology like automated license plate readers, drones, facial recognition, and social media monitoring added a uniquely dangerous element to the surveillance that comes with physical intimidation of law enforcement. With greater technological power in the hands of police, surveillance technology is crossing into a variety of new and alarming contexts."
https://www.pogo.org/analysis/protest-under-a-surveillance-state-microscope
ACLU Demands End to 'Heavy-Handed' Crackdowns on Pro-Palestine College Protests
https://www.commondreams.org/news/college-campus-protests-gaza
Prosecutors Have Levied Serious Charges Against Pro-Palestine College Protesters
https://theappeal.org/pro-palestine-college-protesters-face-serious-charges/
Appeals Court Announces It’s Going To Rethink Its Geofence Warrant Decision
https://www.techdirt.com/2024/11/06/fourth-circuit-appeals-court-announces-its-going-to-rethink-its-geofence-warrant-decision/
Judge Rules Against Amazon In Face Scanning NBA 2K21 Lawsuit
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/400904/judge-sides-against-amazon-in-biometric-privacy-ba.html
Surveillance & Policing Bodily Autonomy
"After Dobbs, states can use the tools of the surveillance state to enforce anti-abortion laws."
https://www.pogo.org/analysis/surveillance-policing-bodily-autonomy
Appeals court ruled 13 months of police pole camera surveillance was not unreasonable
https://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/OpinionsWeb/processWebInputExternal.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2024/D11-05/C:23-1950:J:Brennan:aut:T:fnOp:N:3287314:S:0
Police Freak Out at iPhones Mysteriously Rebooting Themselves, Locking Cops Out
https://www.404media.co/police-freak-out-at-iphones-mysteriously-rebooting-themselves-locking-cops-out/
Amazon's Blink surveillance cameras can now spy on people 400 feet from a person's home
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/7/24290252/blink-sync-module-xr-outdoor-4-security-camera-range-extender
The Human Toll of License Plate Reader Errors
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/11/human-toll-alpr-errors
Police drone market to be worth $3.7B by 2032
https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/public-safety-drones-market-A10140
Georgetown police need funding to create drones as first responder program
Hattiesburg City Council to revisit purchasing drones
https://www.wdam.com/2024/11/05/hattiesburg-city-council-revisit-purchasing-drones/
Carmel police use drones as first responder
BS Warning: Las Vegas police claim drones as a first responder helped reunite family with lost dog
https://www.fox5vegas.com/2024/10/31/las-vegas-police-helps-reunite-dog-with-family-with-drone-first-responder/
Montgomery County police drone as a first responder leads to program's first conviction
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/police/montgomery-county-police-drone-video-conviction/65-24753660-a30b-4989-948b-64912bbd5b37
Amazon spy drones begin delivering certain products in Phoenix
https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/05/amazon-begins-delivering-certain-products-via-drone-in-phoenix/
Police Violence
Supreme Court Justice Alito Got Knighted... Just Like The Founding Fathers Explicitly Made Unconstitutional
Do cars count as public spaces? Minnesota Supreme Court takes up question in BB gun case
The court now is left to decide what constitutes a public versus a private space; whether or not your geographical and spatial locations can override one another; and what exactly the Legislature intended with its laws governing firearms in public places. “To focus the law on the method of transportation upon a public roadway, instead of the geographic area of the roadway itself, ignores the clear statutory text, renders portions of the statute ineffective, leads to absurd results and is therefore not reasonable,” Saint Paul city attorney Lyndsey Olson, who argued for the state, told justices Monday. “At the end of the day, the inside of a motor vehicle is not a public space under this definition,” attorney Drake Metzger said Monday.
https://www.courthousenews.com/do-cars-count-as-public-spaces-minnesota-supreme-court-takes-up-question-in-bb-gun-case/
ME Committee on Judicial Conduct recommended that a Supreme Court justice be disciplined for failing to recuse from two foreclosure cases
https://themainemonitor.org/uncharted-recusal-territory/
Illinois judge found dead outside of home, wife charged with murder
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/rcna179340
VT State Supreme Court upholds revocation of Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore’s police certification
https://vtdigger.org/2024/11/08/vermont-supreme-court-upholds-revocation-of-franklin-county-sheriff-john-grismores-police-certification/
VT cop charged with aggravated assault in shooting
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/11/03/vermont-police-sergeant-charged-with-aggravated-assault-in-shooting/
Some States Are Turning Miscarriages and Stillbirths Into Criminal Cases
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/10/31/stillbirth-oklahoma-arkansas-women-investigated
Washington state courts' online system hacked
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/wa-courts-online-systems-down-after-unauthorized-activity/
Texan's are upset over police abusing "Blue Alert" notifications
The FCC said in its reply to our request that there were so many complaints, sending them all would be “an undue burden on the agency.” The request produced more than 4,500 complaints, it said; instead of sending them all, it sent a “sampling” of 504 complaints.
https://www.404media.co/texas-blue-alert-emergency-notification/
Right-Wing Sheriff Reelected Despite Public Scrutiny Over 65 Deaths In His Jail
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tarrant-county-texas-sheriff-bill-waybourn-reelected_n_67253788e4b00acf55d9d6d6
Corrections officers plotted ‘going away party’ to ambush inmates awaiting release
https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/bayside-state-prison-corrections-officer-sentenced-20-months-prison-violating-inmates
The FBI Wrongly Raided An Innocent Family's Home. Lawmakers Want the Supreme Court To Step In
https://reason.com/2024/11/04/the-fbi-wrongly-raided-this-familys-home-a-bipartisan-group-of-lawmakers-wants-the-supreme-court-to-step-in/
Black man files $10M lawsuit against Michigan State Police for drug planting conspiracy
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/10/30/dakarai-larriett-drunken-driving-arrest-lawsuit-michigan-state-police-troopers/75896438007/
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.miwd.113161/gov.uscourts.miwd.113161.1.0_1.pdf
Innocent Mass. Man Sues Trooper For Wrongful Arrest
"The suit, by attorney Cameron Casey, her client, Shawn Davenport, and the Committee for Public Counsel Services, states that the trooper's body-cam video already offered damning evidence the man should never have been arrested for the two felonies because he did not attack the trooper, let alone resist him, that in fact, the trooper pondered whether to arrest the man or kick him after finding no evidence the man had any drugs on him or in his car, at which point a local police officer told the trooper to "mute" his body-worn camera."
https://www.universalhub.com/2024/lawyer-sues-state-police-after-she-says-department
Review_ 'Rebel Ridge' Is Action Movie About Civil Asset Forfeiture
https://reason.com/2024/11/01/rebel-ridge/
Inside the Push for Police-Run “Misinformation” Units
https://reclaimthenet.org/inside-the-push-for-police-run-misinformation-units
Cop Who Fired Blindly Into Breonna Taylor's Home Is Convicted of Violating Her Constitutional Rights
"The jury acquitted him of a second count under the same statute, which alleged that he violated the constitutional rights of Taylor's neighbors, who were endangered by bullets that penetrated their apartment."
https://reason.com/2024/11/04/cop-who-fired-blindly-into-breonna-taylors-home-is-convicted-of-violating-her-constitutional-rights/
NYPD sued over their policy to handcuff almost all people during their first court appearance
https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/11/01/nypds-handcuffs-everyone-arraigned-civil-rights-lawsuit/
https://legalaidnyc.org/news/lawsuit-end-handcuffing-arraignments/
Guns, steroids and $1M found in home of NY state trooper
https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/11/07/thomas-mascia-shooting-investigation-home-search-guns-steroids-cash-state-trooper/
2 Ohio Cops Charged With Reckless Manslaughter in Man’s Death
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/us/police-charged-manslaughter-canton-ohio-frank-tyson.html
WTAF? Missouri cop charged with manslaughter released from jail after bond lowered
https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/11/07/former-missouri-city-officer-indicted-in-deadly-crash-released-from-jail-after-bond-lowered/
Maryland cop convicted of forcing handcuffed teen to have sex in police station
https://www.wmar2news.com/local/former-maryland-officer-faces-20-years-for-lying-on-report-about-not-having-sex-with-teen-arrestee
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-maryland-police-officer-convicted-obstruction-justice-related-sex-teen-custody
Florida cop touched domestic violence victim would not allow her to leave
Florida cops punched college football fans in the back of the head
Atlanta cop arrested for feeding wanted felon information about warrants
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/11/01/officer-arrested-feeding-wanted-felon-information-about-warrants-clayton-county-police-say/
Off-Duty Cleveland cop arrested for firing shot near an elementary school
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cleveland-police-officer-arrested-for-firing-shot-near-painesville-township-school-suspended-without-pay
Oklahoma cop arrested for DUI, again
https://kfor.com/video/oklahoma-police-officer-arrested-for-dui-again/10179730/
CT cop arrested for misusing police station's COLLECT computer
https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/new-haven/hamden-police-officer-charged-with-computer-crimes/
California cop charged with using police credit card to buy gas for his personal car
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/ex-cop-in-southern-california-charged-with-felony-grand-theft/
7 Joplin police chaplains to wear bulletproof vests
https://www.newstalkkzrg.com/2024/10/31/jpd-chaplains-receive-bulletproof-vests-via-donations/
Mass. corrections officer arrested for smuggling drugs into prison