civil liberties

San Francisco Debuts Nation’s First Facial Recognition Regulation with Ban on Government Use

An article last week from Wired reported that San Francisco has passed the nation’s first ban on government use of facial recognition technology. Enacted by the city’s Board of Supervisors, the measure was adopted as part of a suite of … Read more »

Report: Justice Department Convenes Forum to Expand Police Use of Drones with Zero Concern for Privacy Implications

Last week, the US Department of Justice issued a press release announcing the start of a forum designed to help law enforcement agencies across the country expand their use of drones. The release, which took the form of a … Read more »

More Trump Inauguration Protester Prosecutions Dropped as Judge Rules Government Suppressed Evidence

 Al Jazeera reports that US attorneys prosecuting a group of protesters at a Washington, DC Inauguration Day demonstration (known as J20) for felony rioting charges have dropped charges against a new group of defendants after a judge ruled that the … Read more »

Muslim Leaders Settle Lawsuit with NYPD in Resounding Win for Equal Constitutional Protection

 The Guardian reports that last week a settlement was reached in a lawsuit against the New York Police Department in which lawyers representing New Jersey-area Muslim community leaders won significant concessions from the defendant. The suit, filed jointly by Muslim … Read more »

Prosecution Drops Case Against 129 Inauguration Day Protesters

According to a new piece from Al Jazeera, prosecutors in the case against protesters taking part in the Disrupt J20 demonstration, which took place in Washington, DC in January 2017, have dropped all charges against 129 defendants. Among the … Read more »

First of 194 Defendants in J20 Prosecution, Including Journalist, Found Not Guilty

A new piece from The Intercept reports that a jury in Washington DC has found the first six defendants in the federal prosecution of 194 Disrupt J20 protesters not guilty on all charges. The charges, which included an array of … Read more »

Announcement: CCDBR Stands For Digital Rights, Freedom, Security, and Privacy

For almost 60 years, the Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights has weathered political shifts to preserve our fundamental civil liberties. Dramatic changes in technology have not diminished our commitment. 

Since the digital sphere is a natural extension … Read more »

New Security Features in iOS 11 Will Reinforce Digital Fourth and Fifth Amendment Protections

According to a new article in Ars Technica, the latest  version of the iOS mobile operating system will include new features allowing users to more easily safeguard their digital rights. The iOS 11 update, scheduled for release later … Read more »

Opinion: Consistent, and Meaningful, Defense of First Amendment Fee Expression Must Include Even White Supremacists

In the wake of the horrific and senseless attack on peaceful anti-white supremacist protesters by a white supremacist supporter in Charlottesville, Virginia, the progressive movement, and Americans across the political spectrum, are understandably in shock. But while tragedies such as … Read more »

Obama Built an ‘Infrastructure’ for Civil-Liberties Violations That Trump Will Inherit

Read Emma Green’s interview in The Atlantic with Jameel Jaffer here.