This Week in Civil LIberties: National Security, Privacy, Surveillance

Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation.

National Security

President Obama gave a speech yesterday about two important civil liberties concerns, closing Guantanamo and the drone program. The president announced two key steps to closing Guantanamo. A few weeks ago we asked him to 1) appoint a senior person to lead on closing Guantanamo; and 2) start transferring detainees who have been cleared for transfer.
 
On targeted killings, there’s still more opportunity to make our voices heard. Click here to tell President Obama to put an end to the unlawful killing program.
 
Privacy & Surveillance
 
If the government knows where you are, they know who you are. That’s why we’ve been supporting a bill in the Maine legislature that requires law enforcement to obtain a warrant before accessing location information from your cell phones or your GPS. Last night, the Maine Senate voted in favor of warrants for cell phone tracking. Now the bill heads to the House.
 
Also of interest to civil libertarians concerned about surveillance, Justin Peters at Slate magazine wrote this article about traffic cameras.