Outside the Beltway

The decision by a Cleveland Grand Jury to decline to indict a police officer in the shooting of 12 year old Tamir Rice raises once again questions about how the law handles shootings involving police officers.

The no-fly list is a flawed, arbitrary mess that has kept innocent people from flying for years. Using it to deny people rights recognized by the Constitution is, quite honestly, insane.

The Supreme Court ruled that police are not entitled to access to a hotel registry without a warrant.

A Judge in Cleveland has found that there is probable cause to charge a Cleveland Police Officer with murder in the death of Tamir Rice, but that is hardly the end of the matter.

The Senate passed a bill that renews, and modifies, the Patriot Act

The six Baltimore cops charged in the April death of Freddie Gray have been indicted by a Grand Jury.

Big news out of Baltimore and, perhaps, the beginning of justice for Freddie Gray.

In a 6-3 vote that defied traditional expectations, the Justices have limited the ability of police to detain people on the side of the road for long periods of time.

Thanks to one civilian with a camera, a police officer is facing charges in what appears to clearly be an improper shooting.

NYPD Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were shot dead while sitting in their patrol car In Brooklyn. And those suggesting that anyone other than the killer has “blood on their hands” are being absurd.

The Supreme Court says that police who have a “reasonable” misunderstanding of the law can still pull you over.

For the fourth time in three years, a Federal Court has ruled that Florida’s law requiring drug tests for welfare recipients is unconstitutional.

While conservatives have been generally as appalled as others with the news out of Staten Island, some of them are looking in the wrong place for blame.

A New York City Grand Jury refuses to indict a cop who appears from all available evidence to choked a guy to death for no good reason.

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

We appear to be just days away from an announcement from the Grand Jury investigating the Michael Brown shooting, and the consensus seems to be that there will be no indictment at all.

A popular idea that does nothing useful while simultaneously violating the Constitution.

The Fourth and Fifth Amendments do not prevent the police from compelling you to unlock your phone if you used fingerprint scan technology to lock it, Virginia Judge has ruled.

Reports from the Justice Department seem to be laying the groundwork for more disappointment for those hoping for charges against Officer Darren Wilson.

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.

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

A District of Columbia Judge has ruled that photographs of women taken in public do not violate the law.

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.

There is a good possibility that Darren Wilson could be acquitted in the shooting of Michael Brown.. Are the protesters ready to accept that reality?

The NSA and FBI are doing more spy stuff.

A hopeful First Amendment decision from the Supreme Court.

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

Today’s oral argument before the Supreme Court on the issue of police searches of cell phones and smartphones left much up in the air.

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

From Florida, a small victory for Fourth Amendment rights.

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

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

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

A Federal Judge wasn’t very pleased when Administration lawyers told her that she doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit over the President’s drone policy.

New Jersey’s highest court gets it right.

There are many fallacies contained within the GOP’s insistence that immigration reform must begin and end with “border security.”

Contemporary Americans accept actions by the state that were once the cause for revolt.

Thanks to one question from one Senator, we learned yesterday that the FBI has used surveillance drones inside the United States.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court narrowly decided a case on the right against self-incrimination that is likely to do great harm to individual rights.

Not only do we not know the whole story of the NSA data mining operation, key details of what thought we knew are wrong.

Just because NSA data mining is legal, that doesn’t mean it’s proper or that the American people should tolerate it.

Sadly, this is not surprising.

The government has your cell phone and credit card records. What can they do with that information?

Big Brother is doing more than just checking your phone records.

The NSA’s data mining project is about more than just subpoenas for cell phone records.

Another body blow to the Fourth Amendment from the Supreme Court.

Eric Holder’s testimony before Congress is leading to accusations of perjury, but the argument that he did so seem pretty weak.