Free Republic

More than a dozen House GOP privacy hawks have blocked the House of Representatives from advancing a Speaker Mike Johnson-backed bill to renew a controversial federal government surveillance tool known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). It comes hours after former President Trump posted on Truth Social, "KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME AND MANY OTHERS." Nineteen Republicans voted against their party leadership

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wants to steamroll local zoning and land-use rules in favor of his own vision for planning and development across the entire state? Not so fast, say Colorado’s cities. Their opposition first popped up when their chief lobbyist at the Capitol, Kevin Bommer of the Colorado Municipal League, labeled Polis’ plan a “breathtaking power grab.” That was upon its unveiling a few weeks ago as Senate Bill 23-213. It was just the start of the push-back. As reported by Colorado Politics, the CEO of Colorado’s No. 2 city, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, turned up at the...

It’s been a year and a half since Edward Snowden revealed to the world just how much private information the National Security Agency has been collecting on just about everyone. The massive spying operation raised privacy and Constitutional concerns and set off alarms with reports that some employees had used the system to keep tabs on their love interests. Sadly, but not surprisingly, the government has done little to reform the program and reassure the public. Even relatively weak legislation that fails to address core concerns has stalled in Congress. Action has come, however, from Silicon Valley. The new Apple...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that corporations have no right of personal privacy to prevent the disclosure of documents under the federal Freedom of Information Act. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 8-0 opinion Tuesday that reversed an appeals court ruling in favor of AT&T. The outcome was notable for its unanimity, especially in view of recent criticism from liberal interest groups that the court tilts too far in favor of business. "The protection in FOIA against disclosure of law enforcement information on the ground that it would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy does not extend...

A push to require all convicted criminals in New York to submit their DNA to a central database is gaining crucial support in Albany, where officials say it could create the most comprehensive DNA collection system in the nation. If the proposal becomes law, it would make New York the only state to require collecting DNA from everyone convicted of felonies and misdemeanors, including youthful offenders convicted in criminal court, officials said. Currently, 43 states require that people convicted of all felonies submit DNA, but none require samples from those convicted of all misdemeanors, and New York has required those...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 — Although Vincent W. Foster Jr., the Clinton administration's deputy White House counsel, killed himself more than 10 years ago, the controversy provoked by his death has yet to run its course. The Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday on whether the Freedom of Information Act obliges the government to make public the graphic photographs that the police took of the death scene in Fort Marcy Park in McLean, Va. The question was whether the release of the photographs, sought by a California lawyer who questions the official conclusion that the death was a suicide, would be...

165 Charlotte Twight is a professor of economics at Boise State University. The Independent Review, v.IV, n.2, Fall 1999, ISSN 1086-1653, Copyright © 1999, pp. 165–200 Watching You Systematic Federal Surveillance of Ordinary AmericansCHARLOTTE TWIGHT I magine for a moment a nation whose central government mandated ongoing collection of detailed personal information—individually identified—recording each citizen’s employment, income, childhood and subsequent educational ex-periences, medical history (including doctors’ subjective impressions), financial trans-actions (including copies of personal checks written), ancestry, living conditions (including bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom facilities), rent or mortgage payment, household expenses, roommates and their characteristics, in-home telephone service, automobile ownership,...