• Mississippi to add terrorism to crimes for which death penalty may be sought

    The state of Mississippi is considering adding terrorism to the list of crimes for which the death penalty could be applied if a victim is killed during an incident. Constitutional lawyers say the law is not likely to be used much since significant acts of terrorism are typically prosecuted as federal offenses. They also say that it would not be  bad idea for the law to cover a renewal of Ku Klux Klan-style killings in the future.

  • Napolitano’s arguments about border security undermined by rise in arrests

    As recently as last Thursday, DHS secretary Janet Napolitano said that border security is at its most robust in years. New numbers released on the same day tell a different story about activity on the border: arrests on the border are up 13 percent compared to this time last year, from 170,223 last year to 192,298 this year. Napolitano argues that arrests alone are not a reflection of how secure the border is, and that crime statistics in border regions – a better measure of border security, she says — are down from previous years.

  • Bipartisan House immigration overhaul bill offers three paths to legal status

    While a bipartisan Senate group – the Group of Eight – is set to unveil its immigration overhaul proposal next week when Congress returns from a break, a bipartisan group of House members has come up with its own immigration reform draft. The House members’ proposal divides illegal immigrants into three categories – “Dreamers” and agricultural workers; those with families and jobs in the United States; and those who do not belong in either of the two other categories – and offers immigrants in each category a distinct path to citizenship.

  • U.S. prosecutor leaves Texas Aryan Brotherhood case due to safety concerns

    A federal prosecutor in Houston has withdrawn from a racketeering case involving the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. Assistant U.S. attorney Jay Hileman left the case due to concerns over his and his family’s safety after a Kaufman County district attorney and an assistant attorney were killed in two separate incidents. It is not known whether Hileman and his family were specifically threatened.

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  • Spotting potential killers, rather than armed guards, would make schools safer: study

    Tragedies involving children, such as the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School, fuel outrage and calls for immediate action to prevent similar atrocities. Lawmakers are debating different gun control measures, while the National Rifle Association’s unveiled a plan – the National Shield School Proposal — which calls for placing armed guards at schools. Three criminal justice researchers argue that the NRA’s proposal is problematic, expensive, and would not be effective. The researchers say there is evidence to show that in the majority of school shootings, the assailant suffered from some type of mental health issue, dysfunctional family, problems at school, social isolation, and in some instances, bullying. The article authors suggest that it is these issues that are the root cause of these tragedies, and that in order to prevent school violence, society must address troubled youth.

  • Arab Spring protests an isolated occurrence, not new Arab world trend

    As the long-term impact of the Arab Spring continues to take shape, researchers warn that the protests that swept across the Middle East and North Africa could mark more of an isolated occurrence than a permanent rise of people power in the region.

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  • FBI wants 1994 online surveillance law updated

    The FBI said the agency’s top priority this year is to update a surveillance law so authorities can monitor in real time Web activities of Americans suspected of committing crimes. The 1994 law, known as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), applies to telecommunication companies, but only partially to Web-based companies.

  • Justice Department agrees 1986 snooping law should be reviewed

    The U.S. Justice Department said earlier this week that it supports reviewing legislation which allows U.S. law enforcement officials to read someone’s e-mails without a search warrant. The 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) states that federal authorities only need a subpoena issued by a federal prosecutor, not a judge, to search through a person’s e-mails which are older than 180 days or which have already been opened.

  • NRC rejects plan for Maryland nuclear reactor

    A plan to build a third nuclear reactor in southern Maryland was postponed last week as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) upheld an earlier decision to squash the project. the primary reason for the rejection is the fact that the applicant’s parent company, Electricite de France, is 85 percent owned by the French government. U.S. law forbids foreign ownership of U.S. nuclear reactors.

  • Widely used FBI surveillance method ruled unconstitutional

    A national security letters (NSLs) is an administrative subpoena which allows the FBI to ask Internet companies and communication service providers to turn over subscriber information on American customers, while prohibiting the providers from informing these customers that their personal information has been turned over to the FBI. Since the 9/11 attacks, the bureau has issued an average of 50,000 NSLs a year. A federal judge in California says this is “rendering the statute impermissibly overbroad.”

  • Fighting gun restrictions on the international scene

    The National Rifle Association (NRA) has taken its campaign against measures aiming to tighten gun control to the international level. The organization has been leading a campaign fight a UN treaty designed to restrict the flow of arms to conflict zones. The treaty is likely to pass, but the NRA appears to have enough support in the Senate to prevent ratification.

  • Gun manufacturers take action against states which passed tough gun laws

    Gun manufacturers are starting to push back against strict gun laws in some states by refusing to sell their products to law enforcement agencies in these states, or to employees of these agencies. So far, more than 110 specialty manufacturers of firearms have joined the movement, which calls itself the Firearm Equality Movement.

  • Tech companies, telecoms clash over cybersecurity executive order

    Last August a cybersecurity bill died in Congress amid partisan bickering. On 12 February this year, President Obama packed many of that bill’s elements into a cybersecurity executive order. To make the order more acceptable to some of its congressional and industry critics, the president introduced an exemption which would take large technology companies off the list of companies subject to the new cybersecurity standards. This exemption placated some of the original cybersecurity bill’s critics, but angered others, chief among them telecommunication companies.

  • Bipartisan proposal makes gun-trafficking a federal crime for the first time

    Lawmakers yesterday introduced a proposal to toughen federal penalties for people who illegally purchase firearms for someone else. The bill would make gun trafficking a federal crime for the first time, with penalties of up to twenty years for “straw purchasers.” The bipartisan proposal is an indication that Democrats and Republicans are exploring areas of agreement to reduce gun violence in the United States.

  • DHS official in charge of immigrant removal resigns

    On the same day it was reported that hundreds of illegal immigrants facing deportations were released from federal detention because of upcoming sequestration-related budget cuts, the senior DHS official in charge of arresting and deporting illegal immigrants announced his retirement. The administration says the retirement of the official, Gary Mead, is unrelated to the decision to release the detainees.