New Technology Renews Old Fears of Manipulation and Control

In the first half of the 20th century, Americans gained a new awareness of the malleability and manipulability of the human mind, and the result was a wave of concern over “propaganda” and other techniques of influence. Today we may be seeing a new wave of similar fears as we begin to wonder whether the ways we use and rely upon technology today are making us susceptible to new, dangerous forms of manipulation.

By By Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst, ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project

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What Crack Cocaine Teaches Us About NSA Reform

This piece originally ran at POLITICO Magazine.

By By Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Sandra Fulton, ACLU Washington Legislative Office

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Safer Communities and Fewer People Behind Bars

Before he started singing with muppets, John Oliver showed us a lot of boxes of Cheerios. This was in the second minute of his epic rant on the state of the U.S. criminal justice system last week.

By By Sarah Solon, Communications Strategist, ACLU

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How to Save $24 Billion and Fix Our Broken Justice System

Here's a hypothetical for you: Someone approaches you on the street and offers you a big stack of cash with no strings attached. Do you take it?

By By Meghan Groob, Media Strategist, ACLU Washington Legislative Office

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The Senate Jumps into the Race to Rein in NSA Surveillance

The race is on.

By By Neema Singh Guliani, ACLU Washington Legislative Office

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An Evening Stroll, a Volley of Fire: A Senseless Death in Mexico

On the night of October 10, 2012, U.S. Border Patrol agents shot and killed Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez. At the time of the shooting, Jose Antonio was unarmed and walking peacefully down a major street in Nogales, Mexico, directly across from the metal border fence separating the United States and Mexico. An autopsy report revealed that Jose Antonio had been struck by 10 bullets, virtually all of which entered his body from behind.

By By Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation Staff Attorney, ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties & James Lyall, Border Litigation Staff Attorney, ACLU of Arizona

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Death and Abuse at the Southwest Border

As Congress debates how to respond to children's migration from Central America, we must not forget that Customs and Border Protection is in dire need of improved oversight and accountability. Here are three examples of how the system is failing and what the ACLU is doing to help:

By By Lia G. Melikian, ACLU

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How Surveillance is Changing Journalism and the Law

If I can't report a story without keeping a source safe, I'm not going to report a story.

By By Alex Sinha, Aryeh Neier Fellow, Human Rights Watch & ACLU

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Prisoners Tortured by the CIA Find Justice (In Europe)

A court handed down a huge victory yesterday, for two men who were rendered to a secret prison in Poland and tortured by the CIA. But it wasn't in an American court. And it wasn't the United States that was held to account.

By By Marcellene Hearn, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project

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