Search Results for: warrantless searches

Amnesty International (AI) issued a statement Monday urging Ethiopian authorities to stop using the country’s state of emergency as a way to “silence peaceful dissent” by arbitrarily detaining politicians and journalists critical of the government. The state of emergency, originally imposed for six months in August 2023 under Article 93 of the Ethiopian Constitution, granted [...]

Several US Democratic and Republican Senators introduced the Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2023 on Tuesday in an effort to protect Americans’ privacy from government surveillance. The bill aims to establish better national security protections for people who may have had their information unknowingly collected by government agencies such as the FBI and National Security [...]

The US President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) released a report Monday in support of the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) while also recommending restrictions to prevent abuse. Section 702 is a controversial provision of FISA that allows for “the targeting of persons reasonably believed to be located outside the [...]

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) Monday published a report detailing the increased usage of drones by New York government agencies and called for reform and civilian protections. According to data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, 200 drones manufactured by a company which enables human rights abuses have been registered [...]

The situation in Myanmar continues to deteriorate, with news received on July 25 that four activists have been executed. The executions are the first carried out in Myanmar for several decades. The government mouthpiece, the Global New Light of Myanmar, claimed that the activists’ crimes were “giving directions, making arrangements, committing conspiracies for brutal and [...]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Annual Statistical Transparency Report released Friday reported the FBI, the domestic intelligence and security service of the US, made nearly 3.4 million warrantless US data searches in 2021. This is the ninth FBI transparency report released pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) but “goes beyond” FISA requirements. [...]

The Parliament of New Zealand passed Thursday the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill, which criminalizes the planning of a terrorist attack and grants enforcement agencies increased powers to deal with terrorist activities. The government introduced the bill in the Parliament in April 2021 as its first step towards implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission following the [...]

The Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously struck down a state law provision Friday that allowed police to draw blood from unconscious drivers and test it for alcohol content without a warrant. Under Wisconsin Statute § 343.305, an officer can request a blood sample from the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in the death [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled on Monday that there is no standalone “community caretaking” exception to the Fourth Amendment that would allow police to conduct a warrantless search and seizure of a person’s home as part of a welfare check. This case, Caniglia v. Strom, involved a welfare check, which led to police searching and [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Caniglia v. Strom Wednesday, a case where the court is to decide if “community caretaking” is considered an exception to the Fourth Amendment’s general prohibition on warrantless searches and seizures. The case involves a dispute between a married couple and subsequent seizure of weapons from their home. [...]