Free Republic

A bill introduced last week in the General Assembly quietly seeks to eliminate a significant motorist protection built into Virginia's existing red light camera law. The proposal of a pair of Democratic state delegates representing Virginia Beach, Joseph F. Bouchard and Robert W. Mathieson, would delete just three words from that statute, but the change would have wide-ranging effects. Under current law, cities that want to install traffic cameras must first submit a detailed engineering justification to state transportation experts. "A locality shall submit a list of intersections to the Virginia Department of Transportation for final approval," Virginia Code Section...

CLARKSBURG, W. Va. -- The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad. Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement here. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, law enforcement authorities around the world will be able to...

...“Administrative officer says here are the photos. You are the registered owner. Can you give us someone else who was driving the car? If you can’t then pay me,” said Kubosh. At the municipal courthouse, initially two administrative officers will be reviewing contested violations. (potentially...) “You are talking about a 100,000 people a year going to that Municipal Court, in a place that is already rampant with overcrowding, “Kubosh said . ...“I will issue a subpoena for the police officer in every case. And I will have him testify that he actually is the person who reviewed that and he...