Government

Secret GPS Tracking of Suspects, Without Warrants, OK’d By Courts

In what one critic describes as a signpost of our “always-on, surveillance society,” police departments increasingly have been secretly using GPS, without seeking search warrants, to track the movements of uncharged suspects. The satellite technology can be highly effective for this purpose: Although authorities are reluctant to discuss their investigative…

Aug 13, 2008 6:58 PM CDT

Gang-Related Issues Widespread in US, Aided by Internet

Even as the federal government focuses on gang-related criminal activity as an enforcement priority, helping to organize major raids and providing money to local authorities to enhance their efforts, widespread gang-related concerns aren’t likely to be easily resolved. In Hartford, Conn., a plan to impose a 9 p.m. curfew, starting…

Aug 13, 2008 4:57 PM CDT

NYC Plans to Track All Vehicles Entering Manhattan

In an effort to combat potential terrorist attacks, the city of New York is working on a plan to track every vehicle that enters Manhattan. “It calls for photographing, and scanning the license plates of, cars and trucks at all bridges and tunnels and using sensors to detect the presence…

Aug 12, 2008 8:39 PM CDT

Detroit Mayor Didn’t Violate Bond

Embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick finally caught a break. The prosecution in one of the two criminal cases in which he is currently a defendant contended that he had violated the terms of his bond by having contact with his sister, who is a witness in the case, while both…

Aug 12, 2008 5:03 PM CDT

Plame Can’t Sue Gov’t. Officials Who Allegedly Outed Her as US Spy

Because high-level government figures were acting within their official capacity when they allegedly revealed to reporters that Valerie Plame had spied for the U.S., she and her husband can’t sue them for damages, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. has ruled. “The conduct … was in the defendants’ scope…

Aug 12, 2008 4:29 PM CDT

New Website Sells Restaurant Reservations

There are laws against reselling tickets. But offering restaurant reservations online to the highest bidder may be entirely legal. A 10-day-old Internet venture, which has created a new website to do just that has attracted customers and critics, reports the Chicago Tribune. However, despite unhappiness on the part of some…

Aug 8, 2008 8:48 PM CDT

Jailed Detroit Mayor Faces Felony Assault Charge

Updated: News for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick keeps getting worse and worse. This morning, the mayor, who was jailed yesterday for violating terms of his bond in an ongoing perjury prosecution, was charged with two counts of felonious assault, the Detroit Free Press reports. Wayne County Sheriff’s Detective Brian White…

Aug 8, 2008 1:01 PM CDT

Gov. Liable for $455M in American Indian Trust Dispute

In a long-running dispute involving claims that the federal government has swindled American Indians under a trust account system created more than 100 years ago, a federal judge has sided, to a point, with the trust holders. But rather than the $48 billion that the American Indian trust holders claim…

Aug 8, 2008 12:13 PM CDT

Detroit Mayor Jailed on Bond Violation

Updated: A judge has ordered that Detroit’s mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, be jailed over a violation of his bond in an ongoing perjury prosecution. Kilpatrick admittedly violated his bond by making an unauthorized trip to Canada, on city business, without first notifying the court, according to the Detroit Free Press. The…

Aug 7, 2008 3:34 PM CDT

No Suspicion? No Problem: Feds Can Still Take Laptops at Borders, Read Contents

Confirming what some had previously feared, federal agencies say they can confiscate travelers’ laptops at U.S. borders for virtually any reason, and read and share with others the contents of documents the personal computers contain. These policies of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S.…

Aug 1, 2008 6:50 PM CDT

Victims or Whiners? L.A. Celebrities Seek Protection Against Paparazzi

Complaining that they are being besieged by the tabloid photographers, celebrities met with Los Angeles officials yesterday to seek protection from further harassment. “But Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton criticized many of the ideas as unenforceable, and one head of a photo agency characterized some of the celebrities as…

Aug 1, 2008 4:05 PM CDT

Bad Budget News in Calif. & N.Y.; Schwarzenegger Cuts State Workers’ Pay

After recent bad news about the state of New York state and New York City’s finances, officials there are probably watching with interest the current budget crisis in California. Today Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger temporarily reduced the pay of most California state employees to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an…

Jul 31, 2008 10:44 PM CDT

More Laws Needed to Protect Residents from California Wildfires

A 1928 aerial photo taken of Mission Canyon, Calif., 10 minutes from downtown Santa Barbara, shows four houses and two roads leading in and out of the scenic spot. Decades later, the shot showed 400 closely packed houses and the same two roads, home to those lucky enough to be…

Jul 31, 2008 4:55 PM CDT

Judge Rejects Absolute Immunity Claim by Bush Aides in Prosecutor Firing Probe

Updated: A federal judge has rejected claims of absolute immunity asserted on behalf of former White House counsel Harriet Miers and former chief of staff Josh Bolten in an investigation into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. U.S. District Judge John Bates “strongly rejected the administration’s legal arguments,” the Associated…

Jul 31, 2008 3:51 PM CDT

Proposed Reg Allows Health Workers to Opt Out of Birth Control, Abortions

A controversial draft regulation would require hospitals and other health-care entities that receive federal funds to allow workers to opt out of providing care that violates their moral and religious convictions. Critics say the proposal by the Department of Health and Human Services could affect access to abortions and birth…

Jul 31, 2008 11:55 AM CDT