Concurrent with the US government’s apparent persecution of Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and Wikileaks for leaking classified documents, the Obama administration sought to use cell phone data without a warrant. Yesterday, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request for rehearing, requiring the US to obtain warrants in order to access files kept by cell phone providers.
The most significant and recent decision came Tuesday, when a different federal appeals court said for the first time the government must obtain a court warrant for an internet service provider to grant the authorities access to a suspect’s e-mail.
Julian Assange was granted bail today, although the gathering of signatures by those offering to be sureties for bail should Assange not keep his terms of release, may delay his release from Wandsworth prison until tomorrow.
Conditions of Assange’s release includes wearing a tracking device.
The US continues to explore means to clamp down on 1st Amendment protections for news reporting organizations and to deny protection to whistleblowers
After 12 years of working to improve protections for federal employees who blow the whistle on government waste, fraud and abuse, Congress was on the verge of passing legislation to make that happen.
For whistleblowers and their advocates, those 12 years included compromises with opponents and fights with friends, including a late-breaking one this week.
After the Senate approved the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act on Friday, using a unanimous consent procedure, the greater protections seemed in sight. The House was poised to consider the bill, and advocates could almost taste victory.
Then Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) put up a roadblock that could derail the bill.
Hoekstra has objected because he thinks that, as the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, he had not been properly consulted about the measure, according to congressional sources. Republicans also have decided to link the whistleblower bill to the controversy over the classified information revealed by WikiLeaks.
