The Dissent Newswire

When the United States Constitution was written over two hundred years ago, the founders of our country did not have the technology we have today, but they did have the ideology of a right to privacy; they had the expectation

Last Friday, March 18, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University hosted a Symposium on Domestic Intelligence.  The symposium was fascinating, and featured three panels (on the last of which I spoke—video below) in addition to a series of

Ahead of Rep. Peter King’s divisive and Islamophobic hearings in the House Homeland Security Committee this week, I spoke at a press conference to denounce the dangerous, untrue, and un-American canard that Muslim Americans have been unwilling to cooperate with federal

Taking a cue from the recent Middle East movement, the people of Wisconsin’s capital now add themselves to the ever growing list of peaceful protesters taking a stand for their rights. Wisconsin is in the midst of heavy budget cuts

Last Tuesday’s surprise revolt in the House may have derailed fast-track reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act, but Congress is back at it again this week. Today, the House will vote again on whether to reauthorize unchecked and unaccountable government surveillance,

Ten years after passing the USA PATRIOT Act, Congress is again debating this enormous expansion of government power. With three provisions set to expire at the end of this month, and Tuesday’s revolt in the House against fast-track reauthorization, there has

This evening, under special rules requiring a 2/3 majority to pass a bill without allowing amendments, the House majority fell seven votes short of reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act. In what The Washington Post called “a vote that served as the first small

Thomas Nephew (left) speaks with a passerby about bag searches at a DC Metro station. Each month, BORDC recognizes an individual who has done outstanding work in support of civil liberties and the rule of law by honoring him with

This Tuesday, January 18, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School hosted a panel discussion in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC, to release the new report by Emily Berman, Domestic Intelligence: New Powers, New Risks. 

Last week, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) hosted a one-day conference in Washington, DC to discuss the TSA bodyscanners and the various problems related to them. C-SPAN recorded the event, which featured Ralph Nader and BORDC board member Chip Pitts.

A series of protests in DC, and solidarity actions around the country, called attention yesterday to the ninth anniversary of the prison facility at Guantánamo Bay. Opened under President Bush, but maintained by President Obama despite his initial pledge to

We at the Bill of Rights Defense Committee are shocked and appalled by the attack that claimed the life of U.S. District Judge John Roll and critically injured Representative Gabrielle Giffords yesterday.  Our nation has long prided itself on a democratic

Since 2001, the USA PATRIOT Act has enabled our government to intrude on your privacy and violate your fundamental constitutional rights. And since then, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee has helped organize concerned Americans from all walks of life

  Silver Spring, MD – The DC Bill of Rights Coalition and the Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition launched an online petition campaign today in opposition to the random bag search program announced on Thursday by DC Metro Transit Police.

Omar Khadr was given what the New York Times calls a “symbolic term” by the military commission at Guantánamo Bay late Sunday, October 31. Khadr, now 24 years old, was brought to Guantánamo Bay in 2001 when he was 15