Amazon.com Widgets Terror v. Civil Liberties

A Stitch in Haste

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine … But Haste Makes Waste

A collection of real-world libertarian, individualist and laissez-faire rants on law, economics, politics, culture and other current events
by an average, everyday lawyer & investment banker and part-time pop scholar.


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Entries Tagged as 'Terror v. Civil Liberties'

On What "Closing Guantanamo" Does and Does Not Mean

November 3rd, 2008 · No Comments

I'm a bit confused by this New York Times article on the future of the detainee facility at Guantanamo after the election:
As the Bush administration enters its final months with no apparent plan to close the Guantánamo Bay camp, an extensive review of the government's military tribunal files suggests that dozens of the roughly 255 [...]

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Tags: Terror v. Civil Liberties

D.C. to Commence NYC-Inspired Worthless Subway Searches

November 2nd, 2008 · No Comments

The District of Columbia's subway bureaucracy has announced that it will commence warrantless, suspicionless searches at subway entrances:
The program is modeled after one begun three years ago in New York that has withstood legal challenges. However, experts said it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of such searches, beyond assuring the public that police are [...]

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Tags: Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · New York City & State · Privacy Issues · Terror v. Civil Liberties · Updates

So Much for "They're All Terrorists…"

October 21st, 2008 · No Comments

The United States has dropped war crimes charges against five more Guantanamo Bay detainees:
Army Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld had been appointed the prosecutor for all five cases, but at a pretrial hearing for a sixth detainee earlier this month, he openly criticized the war-crimes trials as unfair. Vandeveld said the military was withholding exculpatory evidence [...]

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Tags: Law · Terror v. Civil Liberties

Linkfest: Voltaire Wins One, Loses One

August 15th, 2008 · No Comments

The win:
Yelling homophobic or racist names is free speech protected by the Oregon Constitution if the insults don't lead to violence, Oregon's high court has ruled.
In a unanimous ruling, the Oregon Supreme Court struck down the "abusive speech" provision of the state harassment law that prohibited insulting a person publicly in a way intended to [...]

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Tags: First Amendment - Speech · Law Enforcement Abuses · Terror v. Civil Liberties

"He Has Made His Decision — Now Let Him Publish It"

July 18th, 2008 · No Comments

Care to take a wild guess who wrote this?
Upon winning the election of 1828, Jackson embarked on a transformation of the political system and the Presidency. He sought to advance the cause of democracy, and made an expanded executive power his tool in that great project. To Jackson, democracy meant that the will of the [...]

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Tags: Law · Libertarianism · Terror v. Civil Liberties

One Simple Explanation for the Democrats' FISA Betrayal

July 1st, 2008 · 2 Comments

Why did so many members of Congress switch their votes?

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Tags: Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · Terror v. Civil Liberties

The Constitution "Cannot Be Contracted Away Like This"

June 12th, 2008 · No Comments

As President, John McCain will take it as his most sacred responsibility to keep America free, safe, and strong — an abiding beacon of freedom and hope to the world.
–McCain campaign website
The creation of crimes after the commission of the fact … and the practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite [...]

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Tags: Foreign Affairs · Terror v. Civil Liberties

Artist Harassed by Police for "Assassination" Wordplay Exhibit

June 10th, 2008 · No Comments

While so much attention was (rightly) focused on the outrageous proposal in the District of Columbia to initiate a patently unconstitutional "papers please" vehicle checkpoint regime, another just-as-patently unconstitutional display (no pun intended) of police power occured here in New York City:
New York City police detectives and Secret Service agents briefly detained and questioned an [...]

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Tags: First Amendment - Speech · Law Enforcement Abuses · New York City & State · Terror v. Civil Liberties

A Sad Addition to the Dictionary

December 10th, 2007 · Comments Off

"Giulianiistically" —
Here, the court of appeals … Giulianiistically invokes "9/11″ and "Columbine", the latter of which alone semi attempts to make the point.

I bet this oral argument … sure got the attention of the students when the questioning at argument essentially left them with the impression that they have no rights against search and seizure [...]

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Tags: Terror v. Civil Liberties