Court Affirms Your Right to Film Police in Illinois

The U.S. Supreme Court sent a message this week when they declined to hear an appeal overturning  an Illinois law that made it a felony to record police officers. The appeals  court decision against the law will stand, therefore your right to record police officers in Illinois is safe, for now.

Prosecutors in the state were hoping the Court would hear arguments over the controversial law, settling its legality once and for all. Instead, the Court’s decision not to hear it means they believe the Appeals Court ruling again the law should stand. [Read more…]

More Police Required to Wear Body Armor, Look Like Soldiers

The federal government has threatened local and state police agencies: we will take your funding if you do not mandate body armor for your officers. And the threat seems to be working. According to a new Justice Department study, more than 90% of officers say their department has a mandatory body armor policy. [Read more…]

Police Mugshots are Big Business Online

There are many consequences to an arrest. In some towns, you get your mugshot in the paper or on a local news site. But a growing business is ensuring that your mugshot is permanently online in a searchable database—only to be removed after you pay a hefty fee. [Read more…]

Texting While Driving Bans INCREASE Accidents

To hear lawmakers tell it, bans on texting while driving are enacted to keep roads safe, to decrease accidents, and help people focus on the road. But, while road safety is the rallying call to getting these laws passed, they may have unintended consequences—namely, they may actually increase accidents. [Read more…]

Cop Tasers 10 Yr Old in Classroom Demonstration

Elementary schools have had “Career days” for decades. Kids get a chance to learn about professions and jobs that might interest them when they get older. One such day at the Tularosa New Mexico Intermediate School likely left many children wondering if growing up to be a cop would involve daily child-police brutality, and it left one with both physical and psychological scars. [Read more…]

The “Stingray”, Government’s New Tracking and Surveillance Tool

Have you ever heard of a “stingray”? No, not the kind that swims around in the ocean, but the kind that can be used by the government to track your every move, down to a few meters. If not, you aren’t alone. And the ACLU alleges there is a very good reason for this—that the government doesn’t want you to know about stingrays so they can continue using them with little oversight. [Read more…]

Voting Rights and a Criminal Conviction

If you commit a felony offense, many states say you can’t be trusted to help choose leaders in this country. The line of reasoning used to enact felon disenfranchisement laws had to have been based in a feeling that felons could somehow turn the free world on its head if they were allowed to vote, or so it would seem. But some would argue the reasons were far more sinister. [Read more…]

What Happens in a Public Inquest into a Homicide By a Medical Examiner?

An inquest has been ordered in the death of Derek Williams after the medical examiner ruled his death while in Milwaukee police custody was a homicide. But, as this Journal Sentinel report reveals, inquests are rarely productive and wrought with problems. So, is the inquest just a symbolic effort to save face? [Read more…]

Unregulated Database of License Plate Photos Grows

There is a very good chance that at least one photograph of your license plate exists in a database somewhere. Whether it was taken by your local police department or a growing number of private agencies, it’s estimated that every vehicle own in this country has been hit by an automatic license plate recognition scanner, at least once. [Read more…]

Congress Criticizes Counter-terrorism Centers

Intelligence-gathering “fusion-centers” operated across the country and funded by the Department of Homeland Security are in for a rude awakening when a Congressional report is officially released next week. According to early reports, Congress says the centers often toe the line of citizen’s civil liberties and provide intelligence rarely related to terrorism. [Read more…]

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