Outside the Beltway

The argument that the Roberts Court has been overly “activist” does not hold up to examination.

Two states are creating a voting system that will make some people ineligible to vote in state and local elections.

Prism ain’t got nothin’ on the Hemisphere Project.

Three counties in New Mexico are under orders to issue licenses to same-sex couples.

Bradley Manning’s announcement that she wishes to begin living life as a woman poses some interesting legal questions.

TheTransportation Security Administration is expanding its purview to train stations and sporting events.

President Obama is doing precisely what Senator Obama warned us about.

Chris Christie waded into the debate going on in the GOP over foreign policy. His comments were less than helpful to say the least.

A Federal Judge wasn’t very pleased when Administration lawyers told her that she doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit over the President’s drone policy.

Until the presiding Judge in the case rules otherwise, the identities of the members of the jury in the Zimmerman is secret. Should that be the case?

New technology brings the day of round the clock tracking of citizens who’ve done nothing wrong ever closer.

The marriage equality battle is entering its next phase.

A privacy rights group has filed a Petition with the Supreme Court regarding recent actions by the FISA Court.

People are looking to New Jersey as the next same-sex marriage battleground, but it’s not going to be an easy fight.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court narrowly decided a case on the right against self-incrimination that is likely to do great harm to individual rights.

President Obama’s poll numbers seem to be suffering under the weight of nearly two months of scandals and/ media attention.

My latest for The Atlantic, “Why Should Congress and the Courts Care About Snooping If Citizens Don’t?” has posted.

The ACLU is suing over the NSA’s data mining. Does it really have a chance?

Revelations about the NSA’s data mining programs don’t seem to be having a significant impact on public opinion.

Will voters care about the revelations about NSA data mining? Signs point to no.

Jay Stanley and Ben Wizner, privacy experts at the ACLU, argue that metadata is more sensitive than we think.

Contrary to President Obama’s assertion today, the NSA’s operations don’t have proper legislative or judicial oversight.

Just because NSA data mining is legal, that doesn’t mean it’s proper or that the American people should tolerate it.

At what point do science and magic converge? And what are the potential costs?

The government has your cell phone and credit card records. What can they do with that information?

Big Brother is doing more than just checking your phone records.

The NSA’s data mining project is about more than just subpoenas for cell phone records.

Apparently, it’s not just reporters whose phone logs the Obama administration is tracking.

Has the Arab Spring come to Turkey?

The state of Mississippi is going to use DNA evidence to track down statutory rapists. Why not deadbeat dads?

Partisan targeting by the IRS should not be permitted to stand.

The American people aren’t panicking.

Are civil liberties once again at risk in the wake of the bombing attack in Boston?

The Boston Marathon bombing attacks are leading some politicians to make wildly absurd statements.

We treat violence by lone individuals differently than organized violence. Race, religion, and national origin have nothing to do with that.

Rand Paul’s filibuster has made him a darling among conservatives but it may not last.

Rand Paul’s filibuster is one that all American’s should thank him for that.

Silly things members of Congress say (plus musings on authoritarianism).

Since 1877, it has been illegal for unmarried Virginia couples to cohabitate. That may soon change.

Based on the polls, the odds of some changes to America’s gun control laws will become law. It’s unlikely they’ll accomplish anything, though.