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Egypt’s interim rulers have given police the power to enter university campuses to quell protests without seeking prior permission, after a student was killed in clashes. … Previously, police had to obtain permission from the prosecutor general or university authorities before entering campuses or dormitories to deal with demonstrators or fighting. …

Should cops be allowed to randomly scan thousands of license plates? Yes, if it takes criminals off the road No, enough with Big Brother already Let’s give it time to work then see

Gannett. Link only per FR posting rules. Link here.

In his recent decision in Virginia v. Sebelius declaring the linchpin of Obamacare -- the individual mandate -- unconstitutional, Judge Henry Hudson wrote, "The unchecked expansion of congressional power to the limits suggested by [the individual mandate provision] would invite unbridled exercise of federal police powers." Legitimate police powers include government's authority to regulate what people may or may not do. Federal authority is limited by enumerated powers granted to Congress and what it deems necessary and proper to effect laws, but only consistent with the rest of the Constitution.

A man wearing a McCain-Palin T-shirt during a Philadelphia celebration on election night was arrested, cuffed and stuffed into a police cruiser, and supporters said it was for no more than wearing the endorsement of the GOP nominees for president and vice-president. Although the man protested that he didn't want to cause any trouble, officers manhandled and arrested him, the video posted on YouTube shows.

In one of the most absolutely cocked-over ideas I've seen in all my born days, the City of Washington D.C. has decided to set up "Neighborhood Safety Zones" in certain areas of the District of Columbia. Once a neighborhood is declared a "Neighborhood Safety Zone" DeeCee Police will stop all vehicles entering these zones and demand identification proving that the driver lives in the neighborhood, or provide a -- and let me be accurate here -- "legitimate reason to enter the neighborhood". Anyone not providing papers identification or a "legitimate reason to enter the neighborhood" will be -- and I...

Police officers remove a protester from the grounds of town hall . The protester opposes deputizing local police officers as immigration agents.  An estimated 500 people descended on Morristown this afternoon for dueling protests on illegal immigration and immigrants' rights. The crowd waved signs and at times chanted heatedly, but stopped short of causing any major disturbances.Protesters grew more vocal as the afternoon wore on, with both sides waiting for Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello to take the stage. Police outfitted in riot gear with helmets, batons and pepper spray surrounded the stage, while a line of reinforcements arrived to barricade...

Just when I thought I had seen and heard it all, comes the case Scott v. Harris. The case involves Coweta County Deputy Sheriff Timothy Scott's decision in 2001 to end a wild, high-speed chase over dark and wet Georgia highways by finally ramming the back of Victor Harris' Cadillac, sending him down an embankment and flipping his car. Harris, then 19, was left a quadriplegic and has sued, claiming it was a violation of his constitutional rights for Scott to take such drastic action.His constitutional what?Here is the question's presented to the court, for which the love of...

Judge Restricts New York Police Surveillance By JIM DWYER In a rebuke of a surveillance practice greatly expanded by the New York Police Department after the Sept. 11 attacks, a federal judge ruled today that the police must stop the routine videotaping of people at public gatherings unless there was an indication that unlawful activity may occur. Nearly four years ago, at the request of New York City, the same judge, Charles S. Haight Jr., had given the police greater authority to investigate political, social and religious groups. In today’s ruling, however, Judge Haight of Federal District Court in Manhattan...

DEB DAVIS LIKES to commute to work by public bus. She uses the time to read, crochet or pay bills. It's her quiet time. What with the high price of gas, she saves money, too: a week's worth of gas money gets her a month's worth of bus rides. The bus she rides crosses the property of the Denver Federal Center, a collection of government offices such as the Veterans Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, and part of the National Archives. The Denver Federal Center is not a high security area: it's not Area 51 or NORAD. On her first...

Bush Policy's Newest Critics - Conservatives It's not the left that is sounding some of the harshest criticism against the president's tactics in fighting the war on terrorism, it's many of the nation's most solid Republican conservatives. So says Michelle Goldberg, writing for Salon.com, claiming that "rock-ribbed" Republican conservatives are the "newest, most outspoken critics of the war on terrorism and Iraq." While the administration isn't surprised when it's being assailed by left-wingers for what liberals claim are increasingly draconian assaults on civil liberties, it has been surprised by a similar chorus from more and more members of the traditional...

Terrorism Fears Push Md. Toward Wider Police Power Washington Post - Maryland's House of Delegates is preparing to pass anti-terrorism legislation today that would dramatically expand the ability of police to tap phones and eavesdrop on the e-mail and Internet activity of suspected criminals -- part of a deluge of terror-busting measures under consideration in nearly every state capital. The Maryland bill, like those in dozens of other states, has inspired a heated clash between civil libertarians and those who believe that some rights must be compromised to prevent another attack on U.S. soil. Each time that conflict surfaced last...

Lincoln And The War On Terror: A Conservative Reappraisal By Paul Craig Roberts The war on terror is creating media attention and fundraising opportunities for conservative organizations. It is also creating confusion of thought among conservatives and, thereby, opportunities for more centralized government power and a police state. Too many Americans are coming to accept that a successful war on terror requires a police state in whole or part. For example, the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act would give state governors the power to order people from their homes and force them into quarantines, separate parents from children, impose...