Word: civil
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...federal government that some critics on the left, as well as some on the right, see as unnecessarily broad at best and unconstitutional at worst. And in court, the Bush Administration frequently invoked the state secrets privilege - the right to withhold information that compromises national security - to block civil litigation and shield evidence from public scrutiny...
...Obama Administration aired its positions on both issues this week, to mixed responses and some disappointment from civil libertarians and left-leaning Democrats, who are already fuming at the White House over health care, Afghanistan and other issues. Liberals were not happy to hear, on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, Department of Justice officials urging Congressional committees to reauthorize three controversial powers that are set to expire at year's end: the Patriot Act's powers to grant roving wiretaps on unnamed suspects, and to force broad disclosure of documents, which some call the library records power; and the never...
...partisan watchdog Project on Government Oversight, called the state secrets privilege an executive branch abuse that really needed to be curtailed, and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, a liberal Democrat, said he was pleased with the Administration's move. But Michael Macleod-Ball, acting director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Washington legislative office, was more cautious, saying that President Obama had essentially mirrored President Bush's policy until Holder's announcement. "We're hopeful that this will change their behavior in court," he said, "but in and of itself, the declaration of this new policy doesnt change anything." (Read...
...city's preparations haven't gone unchallenged. The American Civil Liberties Union has sued Pittsburgh over the police treatment of a Montana-based organization, Seeds of Peace Collective, which set up mobile kitchens and delivery trucks to feed protesters for free. The ACLU alleges that police hounded the collective from one neighborhood to the next with a series of petty charges. While ACLU lawyers failed to stop police action against the group, they did successfully sue to open Pittsburgh's iconic Point State Park to groups advocating action on climate change and women's rights...
...China undergoes an astonishing demographic shift and more foreigners make their homes in the Middle Kingdom, Lou is by no means the only one being treated differently. Recent decades have seen a surge in the number of mixed-race couples. According to the data offered by Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, from 1994 to 2008, each year there have been about 3,000 more mixed-race marriages in Shanghai. But as the children of that first generation of mixed-race marriages come of age, their moves to gain acceptance in society - like Lou's participation in the TV show - have exposed...