Category Archives: Civil Liberties

U.S. opening some private mail in terror fight. Although the article is less than totally clear, this doesn’t appear to mean that letters are being opened for fear they contain something dangerous like anthrax or explosives. No, if I understand it, they’re being opened to read them

When Customs “deem it necessary to protect the country from terrorism,” i.e. when they choose, they open international mail coming into the US. Apparently this is not limited to packages, but includes personal letters.

I don’t know if this is consistent with current (statute) law. As for the constitutional issue, there are surprisingly few rights at the border for people, goods, or even ideas. I have always believed that the First Amendment should be read to cover exchanges of views between a US person and a foreigner; the courts have not always been so clear on that. Similarly, ordinary fourth amendment rights against search have been held not to apply to customs, which as I understand it can search just about anyone they please. At the border we’re all suspects. And so too now, it seems, are our letters home.

Writer writes book critical of Bush. Author then finds self on No Fly List.

There is of course no connection between these two facts. None. Nope. Unthinkable. Can’t happen here. Rule of law and all that.

Remember that story about the grad student who asked for Mao’s Little Red Book and got an investigation instead? I didn’t blog about this when it first hit the blogosphere because the complainant was anonymous, and it lacked any confirmation. Plus I couldn’t figure out how the feds would get hold of the list of ILL requests (librarians are about as good about privacy as anyone gets). And, sure enough, the whole thing is a hoax.

The NSA story, however, is not a hoax.

Don’t misunderstand: it is absolutely legal for cops to observe matters in public places. It’s usually legal for them to film things in public too, so long as it’s not done in an intimidating fashion.

And, it’s legal for cops to go undercover, although when they do so implicates matters of priorities and good taste; some political demos may not be the wisest choices for undercover work.

But what’s not legal is for the cops to act as agents provocateurs. The New York Times never uses that phrase, but it’s the all-but-inevitable one to use to name the behaviors described in New York Police Covertly Join In at Protest Rallies.

One more leaf from the Nixon / Kruschev playbook?

Judge Luttig authored a canny 4th Circuit opinion today denying the government’s motion to transfer Padilla from durance vile in the brig to durance common in Miami.

Steve Vladeck explains it all to you at PrawfsBlog.