Outside the Beltway

I’m uneasy about a world in which a private conversation, illegally recorded, can be used in this fashion.

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

The Court gets the result right, but their reasoning will make things much more difficult for courts, defendants, and victims.

Wisconsin recently became the third state to criminalize revenge porn. Why is it still legal in the other 47?

Interactions between consumers and businesses online are starting to have an impact on the legal system.

Thanks to Edward Snowden, the Washington Post and the Guardian are Pulitzer Prize winners.

Bill Clinton seems far more understanding of Edward Snowden than the current President

Many Republicans won’t like Jeb Bush’s recent comments about illegal immigration, but he’s right.

The DOD says Walmart was violating its trademarks.

From Massachusetts, a ruling that might make little sense to the lay person but which seems to be right on the law.

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

Some perspective from Sochi.

Marlise Munoz is finally at peace, but the law that kept her hooked up to machines for two months remains on the books.

From Florida, a small victory for Fourth Amendment rights.

The “paper of record” joins the call for some kind of deal with Edward Snowden.

.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.

Vladimir Putin seems to be getting a lot of love from cultural conservatives in the United States.

Does a determination that NSA data collection practices are likely unconstitutional mean that Edward Snowden’s actions were, in some sense, justified?

A potentially big legal setback for a big National Security Agency program.

A Federal District Court Judge struck down part of Utah’s law against polygamy brought by the stars of TLC’s “Sister Wives.”

Not surprisingly, Time’s editors chose Pope Francis as Person Of The Year. However, Edward Snowden arguably would have been the better choice.

The most important leader to come out of Africa in the 20th Century, and perhaps in all of history, has died.

Another conflict between the Obama Administration and a news media that is frustrated about the extent they are being controlled by being refused access.

An unusual challenge to the NSA’s data mining program reaches its expected end in the Supreme Court.

The latest revelations about National Security Agency surveillance outside the United States have caused quite an uproar overseas.

Even if it were functioning properly the Federal Health Care Exchange website would still have problems.

An odd lawsuit out of France.

Discussion of privacy really ought to be focused on the legal regime, not technical capabilities.

Prism ain’t got nothin’ on the Hemisphere Project.

The pioneering journalist David Frost has died, aged 74 years.

My latest for The National Interest, “Clapper’s Bodyguard of Lies,” has posted.

TheTransportation Security Administration is expanding its purview to train stations and sporting events.

President Obama is doing precisely what Senator Obama warned us about.

A husband and wife do unrelated, and perfectly innocent, Google searches, and get a visit from the FBI.

Chris Christie waded into the debate going on in the GOP over foreign policy. His comments were less than helpful to say the least.

New Jersey’s highest court gets it right.

Until the presiding Judge in the case rules otherwise, the identities of the members of the jury in the Zimmerman is secret. Should that be the case?