Category «Civil Liberties»

The Trump Administration’s Continued War Against Science, Research and Public Health Part 3

This is a follow up to two previous articles by Sabrina I. Pacifici on the Trump administration’s relentless attacks against science, medicine and public health, government sponsored data collection and reporting, climate science, free speech, and the censorship of federally funded academic research and scholarship. The rapid fire assault against the heart of our democracy stunningly continues to escalate, per the Project 2025 roadmap operationalized under the direction of Russell Vought and Stephen Miller, fracturing our public policy, governance, the economy, muzzling the education system, and eradicating our foreign policy and diplomacy. Pacifici’s article focuses on the administration’s new actions in September 2025, documenting censorship in all sectors, across agencies, universities, corporate activities and the economy.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Constitutional Law, Energy, Environmental Law, Government Contracts, Health, Healthcare, Legal Research, United States Law

The Trump Administration’s Continued War Against Science, Research and Public Health – Part 2

This is a follow up to Sabrina I. Pacifici’s July 31, 2025 article, The Trump Administration’s Continued War Against Science, Research and Public Health. In just one more month the administration has ramped up its use of unsupportable actions to expand the cancellation of billions of dollars of congressionally approved funding for a broad swath of government-funded agencies, institutions, programs and leading edge initiatives. They also relentlessly target and censor academic research in the sciences, public health, medicine, and on the climate crisis. The deliberate collateral damage has purged the leadership in organizations whose subject matter expertise drives vast knowledge acquired through decades of public service. The continued decimation of the country’s long standing support for the sciences impacts every person in America. It has fractured our collective human and technological systems and resources. The scope and specificity of the bare knuckle attacks and the implications are exposed.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Education, Health, Healthcare, Legal Research, Medical Research, Viruses & Hoaxes

What the Supreme Court ruling against ‘universal injunctions’ means for court challenges to presidential actions

When presidents have tried to make big changes through executive orders, they have often hit a roadblock: A single federal judge, whether located in Seattle or Miami or anywhere in between, could stop these policies across the entire country. But on June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court significantly limited this judicial power. In Trump v. CASA Inc., a 6-3 majority ruled that federal courts likely lack the authority to issue “universal injunctions” that block government policies nationwide. Professor Cassandra Burke Robertson explains how the ruling means that going forward federal judges can generally only block policies from being enforced against the specific plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit, not against everyone in the country.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Federal Legislative Research, Legal Research

3 years after abortion rights were overturned, contraception access is at risk

On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization eliminated a nearly 50-year constitutional right to abortion and returned the authority to regulate abortion to the states. The Dobbs ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade, has vastly reshaped the national abortion landscape. Three years on, many states have severely restricted access to abortion care. But the decision has also had a less well-recognized outcome: It is increasingly jeopardizing access to contraception. Physician scientist Cynthia H. Chuang and sociologist and health services researcher Carol S. Weisman study women’s health care and policy, including access to contraception. They see a worrisome situation emerging.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Health, Healthcare, Insurance Law, Legal Research, Legislative, Privacy, United States Law

Unholy Counsel: Stephen Miller, the Constitution, and the Vampiric Assault on States’ Rights

In this Mostly Lawful deep dive, we’ll examine how Trump (abetted by his most ghoulish advisor, Stephen Miller – basically Trump’s Count Dracula with a law degree and a hate for due process) has clashed with legal limits and states’ prerogatives—earning sharp rebukes from courts, generals, and even some conservatives. Strap in for a journey through Trump’s federalist faceplant, with your expert legal guide Kyle K. Courtney, complete with case law, statutory showdowns, vampires, and a healthy dose of dry wit.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Constitutional Law, Government Resources, Legal Research, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, May 31, 2025

On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Most AI chatbots devour your user data – these are the worst offenders; The US Is Building a One-Stop Shop for Buying Your Data; Digital Corruption Takes Over DC; A Starter Guide to Protecting Your Data From Hackers and Corporations; and Cybercriminals exploit AI hype to spread ransomware, malware.

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research, Privacy

Trump Administration Continues Scrubbing Statistics and Disappearing Data

What is the status of the official data published by U.S. federal statistical agencies? As the current administration continues its disassembling of huge swaths of the federal government, not only are the workers and services gone, so of course is much of the data generated by those employees. And federal statistical data and datasets, whether census data or statistics on the economy, health, education, or other critical public matters, are what librarians and information professionals rely upon to answer patron questions and perform research and analysis for internal, data-driven projects. This article by Robert Berkman is a roundup of where these cuts and significant changes are happening and offers alternatives to locate datasets and statistical data that are no longer available.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Economy, Education, Energy, Government Resources, Health, Healthcare, Legal Research, Medical Research

Cultivating obedience: Using the Justice Department to attack former officials consolidates power and deters dissent

Political science scholars who study the origins of elected strongmen, Professors Joe Wright and Erica Franz discuss how President Donald Trump’s first three months in office has been distinguished by how his administration has targeted dozens of former officials who criticized him or opposed his agenda. They believe Trump’s use of the Justice Department to attack former officials who stood up to him isn’t just about revenge. It also deters current officials from defying Trump.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Criminal Law, Ethics, Legal Research

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, May 17, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: License Plate Reader Company Flock Is Building a Massive People Lookup Tool, Leak Shows; Senators want TSA to scale back facial recognition at airports; How Signal, WhatsApp, Apple, and Google Handle Encrypted Chat Backups; Deepfakes, Scams, and the Age of Paranoia; Does One Line Fix Google?

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, KM, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media, Spyware

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, May 10, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Using AI Can Be Ethically Iffy. Here’s How to Do It Right; How to Make Your iPhone as Secure as Possible; After $243M Crypto Heist, a Crucial Mistake; Postal Service Data Sharing to Deport Immigrants; and AI is getting “creepy good” at geo-guessing.

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Privacy