It Could Go Away
by zach | August 23, 2010 - 2:39pmIt contrast to demagoguery over the location of mosques and Muslim community centers, which apparently will never go away, the right to privacy of medical records could indeed go away. | continue reading
My High School Records
by brianna | August 20, 2010 - 12:46pmI would guess that most people who know me would assume that I breezed through school without any visits to the principal's office. I earned excellent grades in school, participated in honor society, latin club and other school activities. I even organized blood drives for students. To most, I seemed like a good, eager student.
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It Isn't Going Away
by zach | August 19, 2010 - 4:30pmI should probably not be surprised at the durability of a seemingly absurd political fight during an election season, but the controversy over the building of a mosque and community center in lower Manhattan has gone on far longer than I expected. While some may have hoped that if they ignored the fight long enough it would go away, that does not seem to be an option. Now seems an appropriate time for supporters of religious freedom (and freedom generally) to speak out, clearly and forcefully, about why it is legally and morally unacceptable to bar a group of Muslims from establish | continue reading
Take the Digital Privacy Quiz!
by edward | August 18, 2010 - 5:06pmHow vulnerable is your e-mail, web browsing, and cellular phone to outside surveillance? More vulnerable than you think!
The ACLU has a fun, interactive online quiz that rates your electronic privacy. You can take the quiz here.
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The ACLU has a fun, interactive online quiz that rates your electronic privacy. You can take the quiz here.
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Long Creek Youth Development Center - Reported Culture Shift Supports Rehabilitation Over Punishment
by alysia | August 18, 2010 - 4:59pmAs part of our tour of Maine prisons and jails, some of us visited Long Creek Youth Development Center. The facility in South Portland, houses up to 163 of Maine's juvenile offenders, including a small number of girls.
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When Your GPS Tracks You
by shenna | August 16, 2010 - 6:13pmKudos to reporter Mal Leary of Capitol News Service for uncovering a query from a finance company to the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection asking advice about placing GPS devices in financed vehicles. The good news is that Maine state legislators from both sides of the aisle -- Democrat Elizabeth Schneider and Republican Chris Rector -- agree with the MCLU that this practice violates our fundamental right to privacy. | continue reading
Visiting Maine's Prisons and Jails
by shenna | August 13, 2010 - 5:32pmYesterday I toured the Maine Correctional Center, meeting with center administrators, medical staff and prisoners for a total three and a half hours. Superintendent Scott Burnheimer and his staff were really great in taking the time to explain all aspects of the program, and they led us on a tour that included all areas of the prison. This is part of an MCLU effort to visit all Maine’s state prison facilities and some of the jails over the next couple of months to increase our understanding of con | continue reading
Can You Trust The Police?
by zach | August 12, 2010 - 4:32pmThe Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued an interesting decision this week that, ironically, involved lie detectors. To briefly summarize, a criminal suspect was given a four-hour polygraph test, which he was told was "foolproof." After the exam, the police told the suspect that he had failed the polygraph test, and they then tried (successfully, it turned out) to elicit a confession.
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Student Privacy - Parents Deserve Full Information
by alysia | August 11, 2010 - 4:20pm
In today's world, even the youngest members of our communities face privacy threats. When students and their parents were asked to provide their social security numbers for longitudinal data studies, we focused the legislative debate on the highly personal nature of this data, and its potential to be used, misused, and manipulated in a variety ways of dangerous ways.
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Building the Obama Legacy
by edward | August 10, 2010 - 1:09pmThe hits keep on coming. Obama's campaign slogan "Change" has been ridiculed mercilessly across the political spectrum since he arrived in the White House promising a policy departure from the Bush Administration. Instead, he's meekly accepted the Bush/Cheney playbook that was in place for him.
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