by David Brin

Salon

08/04/04

While a flood of new discoveries may seem daunting, they should not undermine the core values of a calm and knowledgeable citizenry. Quite the opposite: While privacy may have to be redefined, the new technologies of surveillance should and will be the primary countervailing force against tyranny." [subscription or ad view required]...

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/08/04/mortal_gods/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Elaine Cassel

Civil Liberties Watch

08/03/04

While pondering the fate of Washington, D.C. where I frequently work and play, as the government reacts to three-year old intelligence by closing streets, putting cops in riot gear on subways, and preparing to close down most federal buildings, I ran across a riveting piece of history: Virginia (my home state's) response to the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts, which provides for deportation of alients with unpopular beliefs and punishment of speech and press comments antithetical to the government. The essence of some of the Acts' provisions are echoed in today's Patriot and Homeland Security Acts.

Penned by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Virginia residents, the Virginia resolution rejects federal policies that threatened the Bill of Rights...

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/ecassel/2004/08/03


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/04/08/ale04025.html


Informant: DitziSis

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0726-12.htm


Informant: Pam

The United States keeps putting more people into prison, at ever-greater costs. The trend has to stop if the land of the free hopes to live up to its ideals...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/184287_prisoned.html


From Information Clearing House

by Bob Smith

No Force, No Fraud

07/31/04

Twenty-three years ago, a disastrous Michigan Supreme Court decision started serving as a precedent that has resulted in widespread property rights abuse all across the U.S. The infamous Poletown case allowed the city of Detroit to bulldoze an entire neighborhood with more than 1,000 homes and 600 businesses in order to give the property to General Motors for an auto plant."...

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2004/07/31


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Jacob G. Hornberger

Future of Freedom Foundation

07/30/04

The Pentagon is learning that things work differently here in the United States than they do in Iraq. In this country, when the judiciary issues an order, the Pentagon is required to obey it. That's why the government is now permitting Ali Saleh al-Marri to meet with his attorney as part of his habeas corpus proceeding in federal district court in South Carolina."...

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0407h.asp


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Report: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20040621/cyberfreedom.html


Informant: mcwraction

ALERT! House Bill To Reverse Supreme Court Decisions Must Be Stopped!

HR3920 Introduced in the House and if passed, will allow Congress to reverse the judgments of the Supreme Court!

Will Pacifica cover this story?

H.R.3920 - Bill Summary & Status for the 108th Congress

Congressional Accountability for Judicial Activism Act of 2004 - Authorizes Congress, if two thirds of each House agree, to reverse a judgment of the United States Supreme Court: (1) if that judgment is handed down after the date of the enactment of this Act; and (2) to the extent that judgment concerns the constitutionality of an Act of Congress.

Title: To allow Congress to reverse the judgments of the United States Supreme Court.
Sponsor: Rep Lewis, Ron [KY-2] (introduced 3/9/2004)
Cosponsors (26)
Rep DeMint, Jim [SC-4]
Rep Everett, Terry [AL-2]
Rep Pombo, Richard W. [CA-11]
Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]
Rep Collins, Mac [GA-8]
Rep Goode, Virgil H., Jr. [VA-5]
Rep Pitts, Joseph R. [PA-16]
Rep Franks, Trent [AZ-2]
Rep Hefley, Joel [CO-5]
Rep Doolittle, John T. [CA-4]
Rep Kingston, Jack [GA-1]
Rep Johnson, Sam [TX-3]
Rep Feeney, Tom [FL-24]
Rep Pence, Mike [IN-6]
Rep Smith, Nick [MI-7]
Rep Herger, Wally [CA-2]
Rep Duncan, John J., Jr. [TN-2]
Rep Manzullo, Donald A. [IL-16]
Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. [NC-3]
Rep Aderholt, Robert B. [AL-4]
Rep Sessions, Pete [TX-32]
Rep Ballenger, Cass [NC-10]
Rep Schrock, Edward L. [VA-2]
Rep Carter, John R. [TX-31]
Rep Souder, Mark E. [IN-3]
Rep Bilirakis, Michael [FL-9]

Contact US House of Representatives
or
http://www.house.gov/writerep/


Informant: Heidi Chesney