The “4-week moving average was 279,000 [claims],” the Labor Department announced. “This is the lowest level for this average since April 29, 2000 when it was 273,000.” Overall, the nation’s jobless rate remained at 5.8%, which is the lowest it’s been since July 2008, when the Great Recession was just beginning to swallow the economy. Although the unemployment rate has gone down considerably from a high point of nearly 10%, many Americans are still waiting for job opportunities.   read more

North Carolina has begun to do something no other state in the nation has attempted: Pay victims of forced sterilization. California only recently passed a law banning the practice after an investigation showed that female inmates in the state prison system continued to be sterilized. Thirty-two states participated in forced sterilizations from early in the century until 1974. People were sterilized as a way to “cleanse” society of poverty and those with defects.   read more

“No middle-class person would ever be hounded for being a day late,” Robert Swearingen told The New York Times. “But for poor people, there is a debt collector right there in the car with them.” The devices are now in about 2 million vehicles and can be operated by a lender from a smartphone. “I have disabled a car while I was shopping at Walmart,” said Lionel M. Vead Jr., head of collections at First Castle Federal Credit Union in Covington, Louisiana.   read more

A report by Justice’s Inspector General showed that between 2007 and 2012, about 16% of the interns hired in that office were related to employees who worked there. At least seven of the 19 temporary and permanent board members of the Board of Immigration Appeals had children working in paid student positions at the EOIR between 2005 and 2012.   read more

If Americans dislike Congress now, what will they think if its size increased by 245 lawmakers? Some political reformers argue that, no matter how frustrating the U.S. House might be now, it needs to expand in size. After all, the last time the number of representatives—currently at 435—changed was 1911. That was when the nation’s population was 93.9 million. Now, it’s up to 316.1 million, an increase of more than 200% over 100 years.   read more

An Afghan teacher, Odah was captured in the months after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001. He fled to Pakistan, where he was captured by bounty hunters and turned over to the U.S. military as a suspected member of al Qaeda. The U.S. government held to that story for years, and at one point declared Odah too dangerous to release. He became part of a group of detainees dubbed “forever prisoners” because American officials seemed determine to imprison him indefinitely without due process.   read more

Even customers who don’t use either provider can have their browsing monitored. If a user connects through a Verizon tower, their web use habits are subject to scrutiny as well. As many as 100 million people have had their internet browsing tracked by the two providers. 'Once installed, the supercookies cannot be deleted nor evaded, even if customers clear their cookies, use private browsing modes, disable third-party cookies, or select ‘Do Not Track’ in their settings."   read more

Fort Lauderdale has cited its first violators—two ministers and a 90-year-old man—of a new ordinance that prohibits giving food to the homeless. Abbott, who has been helping the homeless in Fort Lauderdale for more than 20 years, was shocked by law enforcement’s response to the feeding. “One of the police officers said, ‘Drop that plate right now,’ as if I were carrying a weapon.”   read more

Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said agents approach community leaders at mosques with questions, and then pressure them to become informants. The FBI’s approach depends on the situation, according to CAIR lawyer Jennifer Wicks. “These visits aren’t based on people being suspected of doing anything wrong."   read more

An initiative launched by Mayor Ed Murray has spurred discussions among local leaders and started a process for developing privacy guidelines by next year. Officials hope their city will lead the way for other municipalities to establish rules detailing how data can be collected and stored, while keeping in mind the concerns of citizens for how their privacy might by affected by such work.   read more

Under the leadership of CEO Mary Barra, General Motors has repaired about half of the 2.36 million automobiles recalled for faulty ignition switches. Owners have had to wait months to get into dealerships for repairs, leaving them vulnerable to accidents. Last month, a New York woman, Brittany Alfarone, was killed in a single-car accident involving a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. She had tried to get her car’s ignition fixed, but was turned away by two dealerships.   read more

The judges said the public has some right to know how police using the surveillance technology. Police officials insist they are bound by a confidentiality agreement with the FBI, which provided the equipment, to not say anything about it. Judge Boner said: “I can’t think of a justification” to keep the records secret. The judges’ “comments are significant because national privacy groups have tried unsuccessfully for years to learn how police use the device," said the Observer.   read more

Judge Frucci backed the argument of attorney James Broccoletti, who said the pass code was protected under the Fifth Amendment. Frucci agreed, ruling that the pass code is abstract knowledge and is protected. He did say that Baust’s fingerprint, like his DNA, is subject to use by law enforcement. Police were unsure whether a fingerprint would unlock the phone, however. Rulings such as this could cause those who want to move from password to biometric file protection to rethink their stand.   read more

Adoption of Proposition 47 could have national ramifications, given the history of California being a bellwether state for others to follow on political issues. If the state approves the initiative, California would become the first state to de-felonize all drug use. “We hope we’re setting a precedent for the nation,” said supporter Lynne Lyman. “We are hoping it will signal that we don’t need to be so tough on crime all the time.”   read more

A no-fly zone put up by the FAA was intended in part to keep television cameras from recording street violence and the police response in the wake of Brown’s killing. Law enforcement had insisted at the time that the no-fly zone was created for safety purposes only. Civil libertarians expressed serious concerns over the revelations, calling it an "extraordinarily troubling and a blatant violation of the press’s First Amendment rights.”   read more

Forty-three years after President Richard Nixon declared that marijuana was a Schedule I drug, cannabis has gotten its day in court thanks to a U.S. District judge trying defendants in a cultivation case. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Schedule I drugs have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” and “are the most dangerous drugs.” Other Schedule I drugs are heroin, LSD, ecstasy, methaqualone, and peyote.   read more