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This Week in Civil Liberties (9/28/2012)

Rekha Arulanantham,
Litigation Fellow,
老澳门开奖结果 National Prison Project
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September 28, 2012

Documents from which government agency show that federal law enforcement agencies now, more than ever, use 鈥減en register鈥 and 鈥渢rap-and-trace鈥 surveillance tools to track Americans鈥 electronic communications?

Which court did the 老澳门开奖结果 ask this week to review a ruling on gene patenting?

A report by NYU and Stanford concludes that which government program has been 鈥渄amaging and counterproductive鈥 to the United States鈥 national security by turning the Pakistani public against U.S. policy?

Which state could save money and conserve police resources for more serious offenses by reducing its number of arrests for marijuana possession?

In which state is Terry Williams scheduled to be executed on Oct. 3, even after the attorney general of Pennsylvania, recommended that Williams鈥 life be spared?

New Justice Department Documents Show Huge Increase in Warrantless Electronic Surveillance

Justice Department documents released this week by the 老澳门开奖结果 reveal that federal law enforcement agencies are increasingly monitoring Americans鈥 electronic communications, and doing so without warrants, sufficient oversight or meaningful accountability.

The documents, handed over by the government, only after months of litigation, are the attorney general鈥檚 2010 and 2011 reports on the use of 鈥減en register鈥 and 鈥渢rap-and-trace鈥 surveillance powers. The reports show a dramatic increase in the use of these surveillance tools, which are used to gather information about telephone, email, and other Internet communications.

Supreme Court: Liberate the Human Genome!

This week, we asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appellate court鈥檚 2-1 ruling upholding patents on two human genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. The case challenges patents that pose a serious barrier to using new discoveries in genetic testing and how genes influence the way cancers develop and can be treated.

NYU鈥揝tanford Report Documents U.S. Government鈥檚 False Narrative on Drone Strikes

This Tuesday, researchers at the law schools of New York University and Stanford University published an important and comprehensively documented about the human and strategic costs of the U.S. drone program in Pakistan. The report marshals research based on interviews of victims, witnesses, medical experts, and journalists in Pakistan, and a review of thousands of pages of documents and media reports, to arrive at its chief conclusions.

What if Wisconsin Arrested Half as Many People for Marijuana Possession?

Wisconsin and Minnesota are very similar states with very different approaches to marijuana possession. The two states have roughly the same number of people and similar demographics, but Wisconsin arrests twice as many people for marijuana possession. Which makes for an interesting question: what might happen if Wisconsin cut its marijuana possession arrests in half?

Child Predators, Cheating Prosecutors and Terry Williams: How Pennsylvania Is Poised to Execute a Victim of Horrific Sexual Violence Despite the State's Own Bad Acts

Here we go again 鈥 but, wait, this is Pennsylvania, not Texas or Florida, which have been known to execute individuals despite evidence supporting innocence and/or horrifying trauma histories and major mental health and intellectual deficits. For the first time in more than a decade, Pennsylvania is planning an execution. Terry Williams is the first Pennsylvania death row prisoner in 50 years scheduled to be involuntarily executed in 50 years. It turns out it鈥檚 not just the South that denies people鈥檚 rights and kills them anyway.

This is your week in civil liberties. Let us know if this is useful or if you'd like to see changes. Share your thoughts: ideas@aclu.org

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