News & Commentary

One key provision of the Patriot Act relaxed restrictions on the FBI and Justice Department's use of National Security Letters (NSLs).  NSLs allow the FBI to obtain telecommunication, financial and credit records relevant to a government investigation without a court order.  In short, they allow broad warrantless government surveillance.

There’s a running joke in our office about me and REAL ID. Whenever someone wants to conjure up feelings of frustration, fear, or anger in me, just bring up the topic of REAL ID. Immediately I will start a rant about how much I dislike this legislation.

Have you heard about  HealthInfoNet?

Even in difficult times, we must pause to celebrate how far we have come and make plans for the future.  Please join us in Bangor on December 15 at 6:00 PM at the Bangor Public Library to celebrate five heroes of the marriage equality campaign, welcome new Board members to the ACLU of MAINE, and discuss the ACLU of MAINE’s agenda for the coming year.

This morning, I read an article detailing how a faith community and their leader prevented the deportation of many Indonesian congregants at their church in Highland Park, NJ.

I've written here before about the right to counsel--honestly, I think it is one of the most important protections in our Constitution, because without a lawyer it is difficult or impossible to access all the other rights available to people accussed of crimes yet still entitled to the presumpt

Facebook just made some changes to it’s privacy policy and I thought I’d provide some resources on what it means.

We just learned that the Nelson-Hatch vote will be just after 2:15 today, Tuesday 12/8. Please contact both Senators Olympia Snowe(202) 224-5344 and Susan Collins (202) 224-2523 to urge them to oppose Nelson-Hatch. 

Adam Liptak has an aptly titled article in the New York Times, "The Turducken Approach to Privacy Law."  He quotes Chief Judge Kozinski who asks, "Is there a constitutional right to informational privacy?"  He asserts that there's an absence of Supreme Court precedent and goes on to say:  "It’s a bit like building a dinosaur from a jawbone or skull fragment, and the result looks more like a turducken.  We have a grab-bag of cases on specific issues, but no theory as to what this right (if it exists) is all about.”