Cody Bloomfield

February 24, 2023

The Supreme Court sleeps on defending boycotts and the right to political expression

In an absurd ruling, the Eighth Circuit denied that boycotts are political expression. Now, the Supreme Court has denied writ of certiorari, letting the Eighth Circuit’s ruling in Arkansas Times LP v. Waldrip stand. This is a missed opportunity for
February 15, 2023

The Cop City Domestic Terrorism Charges are an Intimidation Tactic

The past several months have seen a showdown between forest defenders and police in DeKalb County, Georgia. A contingent of climate activists calling themselves Defend the Atlanta Forest occupied forest land to block construction of what they have termed “Cop
November 2, 2022

Senator Durbin needs Con Law 101

For someone heading up the Judiciary Committee, it appears Senator Dick Durbin missed out on a few key days of Constitutional Law. In his tweet, “Free speech does not include spreading misinformation to downplay political violence,” Senator Durbin strays far
October 31, 2022

DHS’ Secret Dossiers on Portland Protesters

Yet again, intelligence agencies have stepped outside of the law to conduct politically-motivated surveillance of protesters. This time, DHS was the culprit. According to an internal DHS report, agents assigned to Portland during 2020 Black Lives Matter protests drew up
October 14, 2022

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, and the value of truth in the shadow of empire

If extradited, Julian Assange faces up to 175 years in prison under the Espionage Act – a draconian sentence intended to deter other journalists and truthtellers from revealing the long shadow of the American empire. On Saturday, October 8, DRAD
October 7, 2022

The FBI is an enemy of indigenous liberation

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we remember how the FBI surveilled and repressed AIM and other indigenous liberation movements. In 1969, American Indian Movement (AIM) activists occupied Alcatraz Island, invoking the Sioux Treaty of 1868, which grants unused federal lands to
September 30, 2022

Abolitionist Policy Tool Dreams of a Post-War on Terror World

Two decades of the War on Terror make it clear that incremental reforms are insufficient to ameliorate the harms of a global system predicated upon Islamophobia and violence. Tendrils of the War on Terror encircle the globe and extend deep
July 29, 2022

Threat Assessment: Where Difficulties, Dissent, and Disability Become Harbingers of Violence

In the aftermath of Uvalde and other school shootings, the knee-jerk reaction has been to expand threat assessment. CP3’s TVTP grant program has recently allocated more funding for threat assessment conducted by universities and nonprofits in conjunction with law enforcement.
July 20, 2022

Guess Who’s Buying Their Way Around the Fourth Amendment? (If You Guessed ICE, FBI, IRS, DOD, DEA and CBP…You Are Right)

This week, FOIA documents revealed that Customs and Border Protection and ICE are dodging the Fourth Amendment by buying our private data from third-party data brokers, instead of bothering with a warrant. Add these agencies to a list that already
July 8, 2022

Here’s a Bad Idea: Some Members of Congress wants to classify abortion protesters as terrorists.

In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, thousands of people across the country have turned out on the streets to protest the rollback of reproductive rights. Some, like the group Jane’s Revenge, have pursued more confrontational
June 30, 2022

One year of the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism: Where are we now?

It’s been just over a year since the Biden administration released the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism. Since the ADL put out their own analysis, we decided to evaluate the strategy ourselves in light of what the National Strategy
June 16, 2022

CP3/CVE is a free expression issue

Researching foreign policy…while Muslim. Wondering about injustice….while experiencing mental illness.  Protesting police violence….while Black.  These are all suspect activities under Biden’s CP3 program.    Last year, the DHS announced a “new” countering domestic violent extremism initiative:  the Center for Prevention
June 13, 2022

The persistent myth of radicalization

You’ve seen the story in the media. A kid stumbles across fringe ideas online, gets involved with the wrong crowd, and ends up in the headlines for committing some act of violence. These stories follow a familiar arc. The only
June 2, 2022

When abortion prosecutions begin, will Google be complicit?

The impending Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade doesn’t just endanger bodily autonomy. It also raises the specter that cruel forms of government surveillance will be used to target pregnant people. Under current data collection policies, Google holds the
May 27, 2022

Ohio Supreme Court Should Step in to Protect Student Free Speech

Recently, Defending Rights & Dissent filed an amicus brief urging the Ohio Supreme Court to take up Gibson’s Bakery v. Oberlin College. It’s a messy case with far-reaching implications for student speech. If allowed to stand, the lower court’s ruling