Outside the Beltway

President Obama believes the North Korean attack on Sony was “an act of cyber vandalism” rather than “an act of war.”

President Obama criticized Sony for backing down, and said that the U.S. would respond to North Korea’s cyber attack “at a place and time we choose,”

The U.S. Government has formally charged North Korea with responsibility for the hacking attack on Sony. How to respond to that attack is a more complicated question.

Hackers who have divulged embarrassing secrets from deep within Sony Pictures are now threatening violence if a film about a plot to kill Kim Jong Un is released.

What now?

Yet another example of the need for context when discussing stats.

The Justices of the Supreme Court seemed to struggle yesterday to find an easy way to draw a line between protected speech and the kind of threats that are not protected by the First Amendment.

In a slap to the face of the N.F.L. and Commissioner Roger Goodell, an arbitrator has overturned the indefinite suspension that was imposed on former Ravens Running Back Ray Rice back in September.

Next week, the Supreme Court will be asked to determine the line between free speech online and criminal threats

Regardless of the outcome of the Michael Brown investigation, there are legitimate problems that need to be addressed.

A not unexpected decision from the Grand Jury that investigated the Michael Brown shooting.

For better or worse, Marion Barry was a fixture in D.C. politics for much of the 40 year period of home rule that began in 1975.

All the warnings of violence in the wake of an expected imminent announcement from the Grand Jury in the Michael brown case could become self-fulfilling prophecy.

What if the Grand Jury investigating the Michael Brown shooting fails to indict Officer Darren Wilson? We may find out if newly leaked evidence is accurate.

Yesterday’s apparent terrorist shooting in Ottawa reveals again a phenomenon that seems difficult if not impossible to stop in advance.

Law enforcement remains unhappy about the recent changes that will make it harder to break into a locked smartphone.

The numbers don’t lie.

Attorneys for celebrities caught up in the leak of nude photographs are targeting Google.

A fired Oklahoma worker beheaded a woman and was attacking another when he was shot. Workplace violence? Or terrorism.

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are pushing back against Apple and Google’s efforts to provide greater privacy to users.. They’re wrong.

A recent change by Apple is good news for advocates of privacy and civil liberties in the Internet Age.

The shooting of Michael Brown is just another example of an ongoing problem.

Even with the passage of time, Watergate remains a singularly important event in American history

The Grey Lady sees the light on a major part of the War On Drugs.

The NSA and FBI are doing more spy stuff.

My latest collaboration with Butch Bracknell, “Ahmed Abu Khattala and the Miranda-Rights Question,” has posted in The National Interest.

The justice system works, there’s no need to scrap it.

The right to fly can’t be denied on mere whim.

Retired General Keith Alexander is hawking his services to banks at princely sums.

Ahmed Abu Kattalah, the alleged ringleader of the September 2012 attack in Benghazi, has been arrested.

Should the police be able to track you without a warrant? One Federal Appeals Court says no.

James Oliphant asks, “Why Hasn’t the GOP Treated Fort Hood Like Benghazi?”

Not every tragedy can be resolved with a military response.

The Justice Department thinks police should be able to search the smart phones of anyone arrested for anything.

If something is going to be done about an out of control National Security State, it’ll be because the American people demand it.

Ten months ago, a group of people attacked a power substation in California. Who they were and why they did it remains a mystery.

Dinesh D’Souza has been indicted by a federal grand jury for being incredibly stupid.

.Many have tried to justify N.S.A. data mining on the theory that it could have prevented 9/11. Is that true?

Another Federal District Court ruling on the Constitutionality of the NSA’s data mining program, this time more favorable to the NSA.