In the early hours of the morning of June 3, Oakland’s City Council, nearing the end of a 9 hour marathon meeting, approved unanimously the nation’s first citizen-developed privacy policy. Continue reading Oakland Passes Privacy Policy At 3:00AM
All posts by Midnightschildren
Court of Appeals Rules Bulk Metadata Collection Illegal
On May 7th, a Federal Appeals Court in New York ruled that the bulk metadata collection program attached to Section 215 of the Patriot Act is “‘irreconcilable with the statute’s plain text’.
Continue reading Court of Appeals Rules Bulk Metadata Collection Illegal
55 Organizations Support The Re-Introduction of The Private Prison Information Act
U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) reintroduced the Private Prison Information Act (PPIA) in Congress. The bill, HR 5838, requires non-federal correctional and detention facilities that house federal prisoners to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), by making certain records available to the public.
Media Alliance is proud to join the Human Rights Defense Center and 54 other organizations to support PPIA, HR 5838, which requires private prisons and detention centers to comply with FOIA. Continue reading 55 Organizations Support The Re-Introduction of The Private Prison Information Act
Improving FOIA
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is one of the most important tools for investigative journalism.
MA joined with over 50 civil liberties organizations to press Congress to reform and improve FOIA to facilitate government transparency and the informed consent of the American people to the actions taken in their name. Continue reading Improving FOIA
Fixing Congressional Oversight of National Security
From Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
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Members of Congress talk a lot about improving oversight of national security, but most do not do much to make it better. Just recently, the former chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Jay Rockefeller, gave a speech where he said something remarkable. He spoke about the struggle Congress had with gathering information from the CIA for a report on its use of torture. “This study is … the story of the breakdown in our system of governance…. One of the profound ways that breakdown happened was through the active subversion of meaningful congressional oversight.” Continue reading Fixing Congressional Oversight of National Security
Muzzle Mumia Law Falls Outside the US Constitution
A prisoner gag law in Philadelphia, apparently triggered by rage at a recent commencement speech at Goddard College by alumni, inmate and author Mumia Abu-Jamal, is being challenged in court as an unconstitutional abrogation of the right of speech. The legal challenge is being mounted by the Abolitionist Law Center and Prison Radio producer and former MA board member Noelle Hanrahan, who has been distributing Abu-Jamal’s commentaries for decades. Their press release below. Continue reading Muzzle Mumia Law Falls Outside the US Constitution
Bay Guardian Shut Down
The San Francisco Media Company suddenly and with no notice shut down the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the city by the Bay’s alternative newspaper for decades.
The decision was supposedly based on the failure of the Guardian to achieve financial viability in a difficult market for print media, but appeared to abruptly cut short a revitalization effort underway before it even had much of a chance to get going. Continue reading Bay Guardian Shut Down
SB 828 – Turn The Water Off On The NSA Bill Signed by Jerry Brown
California governor Jerry Brown signed SB 828 into law in 2014. The final version of the bill is far weaker than what started out in the CA State Senate months ago, but is still a powerful symbol of the dis-ease Californians feel about mass blanket government surveillance of their telephone calls and Internet activity. Continue reading SB 828 – Turn The Water Off On The NSA Bill Signed by Jerry Brown