TMR: Twitter Sues U.S. Government, Rand Drinks With Bill Maher, and Judge Rules Ferguson Cops Violated Rights of Protesters
Happy Wednesday! Here's a funny video of former IRS chief Lois Lerner trying to break into her neighbor's house to avoid a journalist's questions. Don't say I never did anything for ya. Now, onto your Morning Roar! Twitter Sues U.S. Government Over Gag Order On Surveillance Demands
Attaboy/girl, Twitter! The 140 character benefit or disease (depending on your viewpoint) on the communications ability of mankind is the latest tech company to stand up for itself and for the rights of its user base to share insights into how intrusive the government spooks are being. From the WaPo:
Twitter, the world’s largest microblogging platform, on Tuesday sued the U.S. government, alleging that the Justice Department’s restrictions on what the company can say publicly about the government’s national security requests for user data violate the firm’s First Amendment rights.With its lawsuit, the San Francisco-based firm is seeking to go further than five other technology companies that earlier this year reached a settlement with the government on the permissible scope of disclosure at a time of heightened concern about the scale of government surveillance.“It’s our belief that we are entitled under the First Amendment to respond to our users’ concerns and to the statements of U.S. government officials by providing information about the scope of U.S. government surveillance — including what types of legal process have not been received,” said Ben Lee, a Twitter vice president. “We should be free to do this in a meaningful way, rather than in broad, inexact ranges.”
Companies should have the full right to disclose exactly what information is being shared with the government (upon its demands) and how often. People have a right to know what platforms are being actively scanned and mined by the feds, and this lawsuit is step in the right direction. Well done, Twitter. And speaking of, follow US on Twitter! @lionsoflibertyRand Paul & Bill Maher Had Some Drinks Not that this is massive breaking news, but it is interesting as Rand continues to make inroads with political kingmakers, this time meeting (and drinking!) with Bill Maher. Now Bill draws varying reactions from different folks - he tends to appeal more to the liberal spectrum, as one would imagine, but does hold some libertarian leanings. To independents, or democrats who have actually opened their eyes to the reality of Obama and Hillary Clinton, an endorsement from Maher could actually hold quite a bit of water. From (the ultra-liberal and incredibly annoying) Salon:
To stay on what’s going on in American politics right now, I wanted to ask you about your feelings about Sen. Rand Paul. I know there’s been some exaggeration in terms of the degree to which you’re fond of him —I never used those words. I said I was considering him and he was the first Republican I would even consider in a very long time.And that’s because of his views on foreign policy?Absolutely, yes. He’s great on ending the empire, not getting into any more foreign entanglements — I’m even to the left of him on the bombing [of ISIS]; he wants to keep bombing ISIS, I want us to stop bombing altogether.I had drinks with him about two weeks ago. He’s a nice guy, he’s a smart guy. My big problem is I asked him about the environment, which is my big issue — because he had made a comment that was very similar to what Dick Cheney said about a month or two ago, which was basically, “Why are we talking the environment when ISIS is out there?”
Maher goes on to say that unless Rand alters his stance to reflect what I personally consider to be one of the most ridiculously over-exaggerated (and non-existent) "problems" facing our nation - namely global warming - that he would lose his vote. It remains to be seen if Rand will continue to smudge the lines of his stances to accomodate the left at least a bit on environmental issues.Or he could explain property rights to people, but that would be too libertarian of him...Federal Judge Rules Police Violated Rights of Protesters in Ferguson By Not Allowing Them Freedom of Assembly Ferguson is still a hot topic, even thought the riots and protests and assaults on the media by police forces have died down. A Federal Judge ruled today that the rights of the people of Ferguson had been violated by law enforcement officers who had insisted on a "5 Second Rule" for anyone on the streets. This basically meant that there was no stopping, standing or convening, which is a clear violation of the Constitutional Right to Assembly in my book. Judge Catherine D. Perry must have the same subscription to the Book of the Month Club. Via HuffPo:
Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry held that the "practice of requiring peaceful demonstrators and others to walk, rather than stand still, violates the Constitution." She issued a preliminary injunction banning St. Louis County Police and Missouri State Highway Patrol officers from using the tactic."The evidence from plaintiff’s witnesses shows that the police, including those from St. Louis County, told many people who were either peacefully assembling or simply standing on their own that they would be arrested if they did not keep moving," wrote Perry, who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. "Some law enforcement officers told people that they could stand still for no more than five seconds. Others gave instructions that people were walking too slowly, or that they could not walk back and forth in a small area. Some law enforcement officers did not make people keep moving, others did. Some officers applied the strategy to reporters, others did not. Many officers told people who were standing in small groups on the sidewalks during the daytime hours that they would be arrested if they did not keep moving."Perry ruled that individuals who wished to gather "in the wake of Michael Brown’s tragic death have a constitutional right to do so." She also noted that "they do not have the right to endanger lives of police officers or other citizens." She said that nothing in her order restricted the ability of police officers to do their jobs.
Hey, at least one of the Constitutional violations committed in Ferguson in the past couple months got checked off the list.Read The Morning Roar every weekday Monday-Friday!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
