News & Commentary

From couples trying to adopt children and to people on hard times: we're fighting discrimination against innocent people in Michigan. This week, hear up-to-the minute news about second-parent adoptions, banning free speech, and the government's misguided and dangerous dragnet of you phonecalls and DNA.

The government is tracking every citizen’s every move in a humungous, all-encompassing surveillance program behind closed doors, then a young protagonist reveals the federal government’s secrets and has to run away to foreign lands to avoid its harsh prosecutions. This sounds like some sort of horrifying science fiction movie; however, sadly, it is real life. By now, I am sure that you have heard of the new and alarming revelations about the government’s gigantic surveillance program. Here's the gist of it: the National Security Agency has not only been tracking almost every phone call made within the U.S. and between the U.S. and other countries, it has been accessing the servers of major technology producers like Google, Facebook, and Apple.  This information was made public through Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old contract computer employee who has worked for both the NSA and the CIA. Snowden is now seeking asylum, probably in Hong Kong, and U.S. officials are in the process of filing charges against him. Snowden joins the ranks of whistleblowers who have been put in legal hot water for bringing us vital information on how our government is really treating our rights. It shouldn't have to take destroying someone's life for the public to gain access to knowledge. In an ideal world, the information that Snowden provided would be accessible without the necessity of a leak. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives Americans the right to access U.S. government records and demands the openness and transparency that are necessities in a free and liberated society and allow citizens to make informed choices that are the basis of democracy. The FOIA (pronounced foy-yuh) requires government agencies to disclose any records that are asked for in a written FOIA request, unless the information falls under one of these nine exemptions. Unfortunately, the government keeps a lot of information, including documents and facts concerning its spying programs, inaccessible to the public by marking it as classified. In 2009, Obama signed an executive order that declassified some of the information that the Bush administration kept hidden, but government agencies still prevent government transparency through molding the FOIA to suit their own desires. Currently, we rely on leaks to inform us about the government’s actions. However, if the FOIA was consistently executed properly by federal government agencies, leaks would not be necessary and the American public could continually hold the government accountable for its wrongdoings. The FOIA has gone through many changes in the past, especially after huge scandals such as Watergate, which led to expanded access to federal files. Hopefully, this recent scandal will lead to similar improvements. The ACLU has been worried about an encroaching surveillance society, which was exposed in these recent findings, for years, and has filed many FOIA requests investigating it within the past decade. Most recently, in May 2011, the ACLU filed a FOIA request to access information concerning the “secret interpretation” of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, and these new revelations will likely affect this pending FOIA lawsuit. After this week's incredible disclosures, the ACLU has filed a motion to release court records concerning government surveillance. Take action now! Sign this petition to stop the massive government spying program and learn how to file your own FOIA request.

Revelations about civil rights violations have been bountiful this past week. We have discovered that black people are arrested for marijuana possession at a very disproportionate rate; activists have been told that they cannot hand out flyers on public sidewalks; and the government has been tracking innocent citizens’ phone calls.

The use of drone technology is predicted to explode in the next few years, but current legislation regulating their use says nothing about your privacy. 

For decades, law enforcement has struggled with the proper, legal application of non-lethal weapons. From rubber bullets to chemical mace, technology has come a long way, but there is still no substitute for proper training. Especially when you're talking about a couple thousand volts electrifying a human body.

Did all your Facebook friends turn into math fans this week?

What's the worst that could happen when you complain about local government or news on your Facebook status? For most of us, we'll be unfriended. But for one local civil rights activist, a judge's penalty was much higher.  Majed Moughni heard about a settlement in a class action lawsuit against McDonald's, and deeply disagreed about how the settlement money was spent. He spoke out about the issue on his Facebook account. Like so many of us who share our opinions with friends on the internet, the worst that should have happened was a couple of irritating comments from an old high school friend.

We all need to be able to hear the truth about the government, businesses and people who affect our lives. Alexandria Goddard and the people of Steubenville, Ohio know that better than most right now.  Across the internet, from Twitter posts to Youtube videos to photo sharing sites, evidence that appears to show local high school football players raping a teenage girl has emerged online.  After perceiving a lack of police enthusiasm for investigating the case, Alexandria and other internet detectives began blogging for justice... but ran into some shocking roadblocks. Alexandria Goddard runs the blog Prinniefied.com, providing a online forum for locals in Steubenville to share information. As the rape case became news, residents and internet activists began sharing evidence collected from the internet anonymously. A student who was mentioned demanded to know the identities of the anonymous commentators, filing a lawsuit through his parents. 

Our Facebook newsfeeds are full of friends posting a cut-and-paste status update that claims to protect users' privacy and copyright from the company. It's awesome to see how many people care about their privacy rights. So does posting a notice on your Facebook page protect your privacy?  Short answer: Nope. Why not? When you created a user profile on Facebook, you agreed to the company's terms of service. By using the service, you've already agreed to allow Facebook to use your intellectual property (your updates, photos, and other stuff). Specifically, you still retain your copyright, but you grant Facebook a license to use and display that content until you delete it. Basically, it's like you signed a contract: you can't change that contract with a status update.  But I care about my privacy! What can I do? Four things: