#civil-liberties

#civil-liberties

On this week's episode of The David Frum Show, David opens with his reflections on the recent shootings in Minneapolis. He argues that these killings, alongside ICE's warrantless home raids and mistaken detentions, and the reports of deaths in custody, are not isolated abuses but signs of a rapidly deepening crisis in American democracy, one in which basic rights and due process are applied unevenly and increasingly contested.

It is easy to dunk on this title and dismiss it to the land of headlines already adjudicated by Betteridge's Law, and I am not going to fight back against its undefeated winning streak, but I do think there is value in asking simple questions that you can answer with provable reality. A lot of people dunked on the Wall Street Journal's front-page story about how data revealed that-like

Both Human Rights Watch and the cross-party law reform organisation Justice say recent legislative changes have created a chilling effect on lawful protest and should be repealed. Their reports, simultaneously published on Thursday, also say that proposals for more curbs should be halted. They highlight the arrest of Republic anti-monarchy protesters during King Charles's coronation, charges and arrests of pro-Palestinian demonstrators and long sentences for climate protesters as examples of the crackdown on the right to peaceful dissent.

In California, Gavin Newsom, he closed churches but kept open strip club which I appreciated and he kept open the liquor stores and the weed stores. It was like, what? And then closed private businesses. He said if you have more than 1,000 people [when you] perform, then they have to bring their vaccine cards. So I said, OK, just sell 999 tickets.' I'm not going to force anyone to do anything.

Jonathan Hall KC, an independent reviewer appointed by the home secretary, said the 2023 law had to be monitored against misuse and overreach because it could extend into politics, journalism, protest and other day-to-day activity. It is unavoidable that national security legislation hoists a flag for police involvement in broad reaches of human endeavour, with the risk of damaging mistakes by investigators and unjustified suspicion being cast on lawful activity, Hall wrote in a report laid before parliament.

Did you have immigration lawyer watch list on your 2025 authoritarianism BINGO card? If so, congrats! But for everyone else, it's yet another sad slide into federal control to learn that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) posted what appears to be a covert roster of immigration attorneys buried on its own website. The list was discovered by attorney Arlene Amarante, who stumbled upon the list while interacting with ICE's website and found her own name on it.

In a move that some commentators compared to China and others warned would decimate tourism to the US, including the 2026 Fifa World Cup, the Department for Homeland Security said it was planning to apply the rules to visitors from 42 countries, including the UK, Ireland, Australia, France, Germany and Japan, if they want to enter the US on the commonly used Esta visa waiver.

When concerned residents of the New Orleans metro area stepped out into the streets with their whistles and phone cameras over the weekend, ready to protest and document the Trump administration's unwelcome assault on immigrant communities, they faced both widespread digital surveillance by state and federal authorities and a vague state law that makes hindering federal immigration enforcement a crime punishable by up to one year of hard labor in a Louisiana prison.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered the FBI to compile a list of what the Justice Department is calling "domestic terrorist" organizations. Last week, Bondi sent a memo to all federal prosecutors and law enforcement agencies targeting a wide range of people, including those who hold what she calls, quote, "extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders; adherence to radical gender ideology," "anti-Americanism," "anti-capitalism" or "anti-Christianity," unquote.

A federal judge late on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from making widespread immigration arrests in the nation's capital without warrants or probable cause that the person would be an imminent flight risk. The US district judge Beryl Howell in Washington granted a preliminary injunction sought by civil liberties and immigrant rights groups in a lawsuit against the US Department of Homeland Security. Officers making civil immigration arrests generally have to have an administrative warrant.

Today marks the beginning of our legal challenge to one of the most extreme attacks on civil liberties in recent British history a measure condemned across the political spectrum as an affront to our democracy and an unjustifiable drain on counterterror resources that should be focused on actual threats to the public, Ammori said at the beginning of the hearing.

A United States federal judge has said the Trump administration must pause its deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, DC, a setback for the president's push to send the military into cities across the country. US District Judge Jia Cobb temporarily suspended the deployment in a ruling on Thursday, responding to a lawsuit filed by city officials who said Trump had usurped policing powers and was using the military for domestic law enforcement.

Again and again, President Trump's efforts to send National Guard troops to U.S. cities have been met with resistance in the courts. In his second term, Trump has continued to push the boundaries of military involvement in domestic matters, whether it comes to addressing public safety, quelling protests or safeguarding federal buildings and personnel, including ICE agents.

Congratulations are in order to The Nation for being a thorn in the side of authoritarianism for 160 years. I was disappointed, however, that there was no mention of The Nation's reporting on the Alger Hiss case (which, thanks to Carey McWilliams and Victor Navasky, is part of the magazine's legacy) and the publication this year of evidence establishing his innocence.

A group of journalists, protesters, and clergy sued the Trump administration over the military occupation of Chicago, and Ellis issued a TRO limiting the tactics federal agents can use. Amongst the banned methods of riot control include the use of tear gas and other kinds of noxious gas unless there is an immediate safety threat. But over the weekend, Bovino was caught on camera throwing canisters of tear gas into a crowd without any warnings or verbal orders to disperse.