THE EMERGENCY STATE @theemergencystate - Tumblr Blog

Given that they could make their first appearance in the coronavirus crisis, Congress should insist on having full access to them.

“Even in the most dire of emergencies, the president of the United States should not be able to operate free from constitutional checks and balances. The coronavirus crisis should serve as a wake-up call. Presidential emergency action documents have managed to escape democratic oversight for nearly 70 years. Congress should move quickly to remedy that omission and assert its authority to review these documents, before we all learn just how far this administration believes the president’s powers reach. “

#martial law

The problem is not any one president's fitness for office. The problem is leaving any single person with the power to decide on their own to commit the nation to acts of war. The Constitution forbids it. Yet Congress and the Supreme Court allow it.

The deliberations stem from a push to reduce missions battling distant terrorist groups, and to instead refocus on confronting so-called Great Powers like Russia and China.

#united states politics and government

Researchers found that most facial-recognition algorithms exhibit “demographic differentials” that can worsen their accuracy based on a person’s age, gender or race.

By David K. Shipler The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches ...

“There are basically two legal ways for the government to listen to your phone calls, read your emails, search your house, and invade other areas of your private life. One is with a traditional search warrant, signed by a judge after law enforcement swears that probable cause exists to believe that certain evidence of a specific crime will be found at a particular place and time. The other is with a secret court order under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which requires something quite different: probable cause that you are an agent of a foreign power, meaning either a government or a terrorist organization. No crime need be involved, and the standard of particularity is largely waived.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray ordered more than 40 changes in how the bureau seeks secret surveillance warrants and handles other matters after a watchdog pointed out flaws in efforts to monitor a former Trump campaign adviser.

“FBI Director Christopher Wray has ordered more than 40 changes in how the bureau seeks secret surveillance warrants and handles other matters after the Justice Department inspector general pointed out a series of flaws in the bureau’s efforts to monitor a former Trump campaign adviser.

The problems were so severe, national security officials said, they will require reforms to both Federal Bureau of Investigation policy and culture akin to those that followed the uncovering of post-9/11 civil-liberties abuses.”

A judge says border agents can't just trawl through the contents of your phone.

U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper ruled in a case brought by 11 plaintiffs — 10 U.S. citizens and one lawful permanent resident — whose devices had been searched when they entered the country. Among them was a Muslim woman who twice had her iPhones searched despite her objection to having Customs and Border Protection officers view photographs of her and her daughters without their headscarves.Traditionally the courts have treated searches at the border as an exception to the 4th Amendment’s ban on “unreasonable searches and seizures” because of the nation’s interest in intercepting contraband. But Casper noted that the exception was meant to cover “routine” searches, not the intrusive inspection of electronic devices that are notable for the vast quantity of personal information they contain.

#editorials

The practice, which the bureau says is vital to counterterrorism efforts, casts a much wider net than previously disclosed, newly released documents show.

"The documents, obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and shared with The New York Times, shed light on the scope of the demands — more than 120 companies and other entities were included in the filing — and raise questions about the effectiveness of a 2015 law that was intended to increase transparency around them.“This is a pretty potent authority for the government,” said Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas who specializes in national security. “The question is: Do we have a right to know when the government is collecting information on us?”"

#yahoo! inc

There are only nineteen years since 1789 when the U.S. did not have armed forces engaged in military operations abroad, according to an updated tally from the Congressional Research Service. See Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2019, updated July 17, 2019. The most rece

“Though there have only been 11 formal declarations of war, there have been hundreds of military actions including “extended military engagements that might be considered undeclared wars.””

Presidents have become adept at waging wars without authorization from Congress.

“...the recent crisis — if such it was, or is — illustrates persistent U.S. intellectual and institutional failures, starting with this: The Trump administration’s assumption, and that of many in Congress, is that if the president wants to wage war against a nation almost the size of Mexico (and almost four times larger than Iraq) and with 83 million people (more than double that of Iraq), there is no constitutional hindrance to him acting unilaterally....

Many conservatives who preen as “originalists” when construing all the Constitution’s provisions other than the one pertaining to war powers are unimpressed by the framers’ intention that Congress should be involved in initiating military force in situations other than repelling sudden attacks."

A federal judge in California granted a preliminary injunction against the administration that prevents it from redirecting funds to build the wall.

“The idea that the president can act “without Congress” when lawmakers refuse a funding request from the White House “does not square with fundamental separation of powers principles dating back to the earliest days of our Republic,” Judge Gilliam wrote. “

#trump #donald j

The attorney general’s ability to declassify intelligence could put at risk a C.I.A. informant close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

"President Trump’s order allowing Attorney General William P. Barr to declassify any intelligence that led to the Russia investigation sets up a potential confrontation with the C.I.A. It effectively strips the agency of its most critical power: choosing which secrets it shares and which ones remain hidden.Mr. Trump said on Friday that he wanted Mr. Barr to “get to the bottom” of what the intelligence agencies knew about the investigation into his campaign. He promised, “We’re exposing everything.”"

#united states politics and government

The National Security Agency has recommended that the White House abandon a U.S. surveillance program that collects information about Americans’ phone calls and text messages, saying the logistical and legal burdens of keeping it outweigh its intelligence benefits.

Bills to rein in national emergencies merit consideration.

“SOMETHING POSITIVE has come out of the otherwise troubling situation in which President Trump has managed — so far — to thwart the will of Congress and allocate funds to his proposed border wall. There is an increasing awareness on Capitol Hill that Mr. Trump is taking advantage of past lawmakers’ excessive delegation of power to the executive branch.“

The next generation of repressive technology will make past efforts to spread propaganda and quash dissent look primitive.

Legislation to regain emergency powers for Congress could avert a looming loss in Senate.

A disclosure about a troubled surveillance program could upend a pending battle in Congress over security and privacy.

#house of representatives

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