Controversies

Federal Review Challenges Legitimacy of 27 Death Penalty Convictions based on Hair Analysis

Peter Neufeld, co-director of the Innocence Project, said, “The government’s willingness to admit error and accept its duty to correct those errors in an extraordinarily large number of cases is truly unprecedented. It signals a new era in this country that values science and recognizes that truth and justice should triumph over procedural obstacles.” read more

Why do Black Americans Live Shorter Lives than White Americans? Heart Disease, Cancer and Homicide

Experts at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) say the discrepancy is due to higher death rates caused by heart disease, cancer, homicide, diabetes, and problems occurring during childbirth or early childhood. All of these factors combined accounted for about 60% of the black population disadvantage. Heart disease alone is responsible for trimming slightly more than one year off the lives of blacks, according to the NCHS). read more

Terrorists, Spies, Whistleblowers Treated the Same by Obama Administration

Steven Aftergood at Secrecy News wrote: “One of the implications of aggregating spies, terrorists and leakers in a single category is that the nation’s spy-hunters and counterterrorism specialists can now be trained upon those who are suspected of leaking classified information.” The policy instructs agency directors to grant insider threat program personnel access to “all relevant databases and files” needed to identify, analyze, and resolve insider threat matters. read more

FBI Orders Florida Medical Examiner to not Release Autopsy of Chechen Killed by FBI

The FBI said the reason for holding up the autopsy report was due to the bureau’s active internal investigation into the shooting of Ibragim Todashev, who was killed on May 22 in his Orlando apartment while being interrogated about his connection to Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev. read more

Bias Found in Animal Medical Research for Human Brain Disorders

Ioannidis did not go so far as to accuse researchers of committing fraud in their animal studies. Instead, he blamed institutional practices that favor reports with “positive” findings. An inclination to produce positive reports is driven by such influences as the need for study funding, the desired outcome of peer review boards and publishers that examine studies, and the prestige sought by universities and researchers who rely on positive findings. read more

Military Took No Action against A Third of All Sexual Assault Suspects in 2010 Closed Cases

The military took no action against 187 individuals, according to the IG, while 141 subjects were categorized as either unknown, or accused of “unfounded offenses.” Only 11% (59 individuals) were convicted for either sexual assault offenses or lesser non-sexual assault offenses in 2010. About 40% of suspects received some form of “adverse action,” the IG report said. read more

Georgia Uses Secrecy Law to Obtain Lethal Drug for Execution of Mentally Disabled Prisoner

The execution of Warren Hill, 52, was blocked for the time being by Superior Court Judge Gail Tusan after Hill’s attorney claimed in a court filing that his client’s rights were violated by the Lethal Injection Secrecy Law, which makes the identity of the suppliers of the sedative pentobarbital a “state secret” to thwart protesters from boycotting such businesses. read more

Snowden Has “Blueprints” for the NSA, but Withholds Release

What is that is unspoken Snowden would appear to be using the “blueprint” material as a backup to be released should the Obama administration attempt to do him harm. In addition, his possession of such material might explain why the Obama Justice Department is charging Snowden with espionage. read more

North Dakota Anti-Abortion Law Ruled Unconstitutional

Autumn Katz, the lead attorney for the CRR, told The Guardian that the decision will not affect anti-abortion laws in other states, but it adds to “a growing list of court cases that are striking down totally unnecessary and restrictive laws.” “The only reasons these laws are passed is to restrict women's access to abortion care,” she added. read more

Federal Judge Tells FDA to Decide if Genetically Modified Foods are “Natural”

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers’ decision (pdf) to involve the FDA came in the lawsuit against Gruma Corp., which sells tortillas, guacamole and other products under the brand name Mission. Lead plaintiff Elizabeth Cox sued the company in San Francisco, arguing that the defendant had no right to claim its products are “all natural” when they contain corn grown from bioengineered seeds. read more

Army Promises to Launch Effort to Compile War Records of Afghanistan and Iraq Wars

The gaps meant veterans couldn’t prove to the Department of Veterans Affairs that they had fought or been wounded in battle, causing delays in disability benefits. The VA accepts medical and personnel records, but when those are inadequate, claimants must often track down long lost comrades at arms to sign sworn affidavits regarding their combat service. Building a disability claim from witness statements can take much more time. read more

U.S. Government Sued for 17-Year Delay in Mandatory Protection of Endangered Fish in Idaho

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did its part, approving the new standards in 1996. It was then up to the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to review them. Instead, the two agencies “did nothing,” according to Nina Bell, NWEA’s executive director. read more

Bipartisan Senate Bill would Force Release of Legal Interpretations of Secret Court

For 35 years, the FISC has acted in complete secrecy: government requests for surveillance are sealed, only the government is allowed to participate in hearings, and the court’s opinions—which have the force of law—are kept from the public as well. As a result, the FISC has created a corpus of secret law pertaining to vital constitutional issues like the Fourth Amendment and the right to privacy. read more

Obama Administration Hiding Details of Presidential Policy Directives

A PPD, while neither a law nor a regulation, is a statement by the President directed to the Executive Branch of the federal government that implements or interprets a federal statute, a constitutional provision, or a treaty. As such, a PPD becomes part of the particular legal framework that grows up around any statute or program. Keeping it secret means that the public is prevented from fully understanding the laws that govern them. read more

Largest Debt Collector Gets away with Minor Fine for Harassing Citizens

The companies violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the FTC Act by using various tactics prohibited by the Act, such as calling debtors multiple times per day, calling after being asked to stop, calling at early and late hours, calling workplaces despite knowing that the employers prohibited such calls, disclosing a debtor’s name and the existence of the debt to third parties, and failing to cease collection efforts without verifying the debt after consumers challenged it. read more

Maryland Releases 13 Convicted Murderers

Baltimore state’s attorney’s office released 14 inmates it says do not pose a threat to public safety—13 murderers and one man convicted of attempted murder. The men all served more than 30 years in prison and are mostly elderly and in poor health. In fact, one of the men who was released, 72-year-old Yusuf Rasheed (aka Joseoh Westry), died of a heart attack the day after he left prison, having spent more than 37 years behind bars for killing his estranged wife and her lover. read more