The Associated Press recently ran a long story about Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared while in Iran. Levinson later showed up in Internet photos suggesting he was a hostage. The AP story made clear that the former agent had a long relationship with the CIA and was likely working on a CIA […]
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The Privies — Time to Vote
The 2014 Privies — It’s Time to Vote! Today we’re publishing the third set of nominees for our Dubious Achievements in Privacy Law awards. And at last it’s time for the public to be heard. Voting is now open, to privacy professionals and to members of the public. The votes of privacy professionals will determine […]
The Privies — Category Three — Dumbest Privacy Case of the Year
The 2014 Privies — Category Three Dumbest Privacy Case of the Year a. Boston Police Department (Commissioner William Evans) Record Your Talk with Boston Police, Face Felony Wiretap Charges When Taylor Harding called the Boston Police Department’s press spokesman about his case, he recorded the call and posted it to YouTube. At which point […]
Is France Trying to Game the Privies?
Why else would the New York Times report today that France is expanding its legal mandate for intelligence surveillance [caution, paywall, more here]– all on the eve of voting for the Privies? Francois Hollande is already in the running for Privacy Hypocrite of the Year for criticizing U.S. surveillance while France is doing much the same thing. […]
Verse for Sunday
Treason doth never prosper, what’s the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it Treason. –Sir John Harington, Epigrams (1603).
The Reasoning of the Utah Opinion Partially Striking Down and Rewriting the State’s Bigamy Law
In his post below, Eugene notes the new decision in Brown v. Buhman, involving Utah’s bigamy law. In the case, a group that considers polygamy a core part of its religious practice challenged a Utah law that states: “A person is guilty of bigamy when, knowing he has a husband or wife or knowing the […]
Utah Criminal Law Banning Polygamy Struck Down
The case is Brown v. Buhman (D. Utah Dec. 13, 2013); the plaintiffs are the polygamists from the “Sister Wives” reality TV show. The court did not hold that the state must recognize polygamous marriages as legally valid; it held only that the Utah law criminalizing entering into even non-legally-recognized polygamous marriages was unconstitutional. (Special […]
The 2014 Privies — Category Two “We All Got To Serve Someone” Worst Use of Privacy Law to Protect Power and Privilege a. Max Mosley, former president of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile That Picture? Forget it. No, Really. I Insist. Max Mosley achieved fame and wealth as head of the Formula One racing association, FIA. […]
How Hackers Snooped on Government Officials at the 2011 G20 Summit Meeting
According to this story, dozens of computers of diplomats from countries including the Czech Republic, Portugal, Bulgaria, Hungary and Latvia had their computers infected with a virus designed to extract information when they were at the G20 summit in Paris in February 2011. The virus, believed to originate from China, came as an attachment to […]
Reminder to Readers about Our Archived Posts–Mistaken Identity
I was just doing some research in the archived posts and noticed that a problem that occurred when we switched servers hasn’t been solved. All the old posts are there, but they often have the wrong “byline.” I.e., a post I wrote may have Eugene’s or Randy’s or Orin’s name on it. So I would […]
Crowdsourcing a Question on Democrats and Constitutional Issues
For a project I’m working on, I’m collecting examples of statements made by high-level Democratic officials (especially, but not exclusively, Barack Obama) before January 2009 that such and such is unconstitutional (e.g., using military force without congressional approval, use of executive signing statements) that those Democrats either flipped-flopped on publicly (in the case of the […]
The Returned
My wife and I have been much enjoying this new TV show, which we’re watching on Amazon Instant Video. It’s in French, with English subtitles, but they haven’t interfered with our getting into the story. The premise is that dead people are coming back to life (as apparently ordinary people, not zombies) in a small […]
The Not-So-Hypothetical
Robert Barnes’ piece in the Washington Post today recounts a hypothetical from Justice Breyer at yesterday’s argument in Lozano v. Alvarez, involving the tolling of the statute of limitations under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Following up on Justice Sotomayor’s hypothetical about the effect of a parent taking a child […]
The 2014 Privy Nominations — “Privacy Hypocrite of the Year”
I’m pleased to post nominations in the hotly contested first category of Dubious Achievements in Privacy Law. Take your time to make a choice. Voting will not open until all nominations have been published — likely December 15. Corrections and suggestions for additional nominees may be sent to vc.comments@gmail.com. But for those who think a […]
Dubious Achievements in Privacy Law — The 2014 Privies
Recognizing Stupid Privacy Laws It’s time to recognize just how stupid privacy law is getting. And what better way than by acknowledging the most dubious achievements of the year in privacy law? First I should explain why I think privacy law so often produces results that make no sense. After all, most of us think […]