Washington’s double standard for the Espionage Act
The recent history of the Espionage Act shows how the statute has often been used as a political tool by both Republicans and Democrats.
Matt Ehling
Resisting the ‘robot revolution’
Many of the fights over robotics will occur in the cultural and economic arenas, but there are also certain policy battles that must be pursued.
America and the hypercomplexity trap
There must be a societal recognition that there are some “innovations” that are anathema to a stable society, and result in uncontrollable risk.
Self-delusion and the self-driving car
Although self-driving car development is advancing rapidly, society has yet to seriously grapple with its consequences.
The Marv Davidov files: A life under surveillance
Records recently obtained from the FBI provide a detailed glimpse into how government surveillance and leftist politics interfaced over a 60-year period.
Do we really want the future that rapid technological change is bringing?
We stand today at the brink of a major transformation in our relationship to the technology that we’ve created.
Police militarization: Looking at policy solutions
After years of low-profile growth, this trend received national media attention during the events in Ferguson, Missouri, earlier this year.
Examining the costs of hosting the Super Bowl
Past experience has shown that the actual outcomes of such events — both in terms of realized public revenues and collateral costs — can differ significantly from boosters’ claims.
Freedom-of-information laws: keeping government open and accountable
Sunshine Week is held in the hope that the public continues to believe in — and thereby demand — accountability through public access to government records.
Lawmakers must act to curtail mass surveillance
To be most effective, policymakers should adopt a three-part framework to deal with mass surveillance issues.
Confronting the surveillance state
Once an aspiration of de facto authoritarian regimes, mass surveillance techniques have been spreading to democratic nations, often under the rubric of counterterrorism.
Examining the boundaries of the Second Amendment
What is clear from the application of other rights-based case law is that the Second Amendment must have substance, but at the same time it is not limitless.
Drone controversy highlights the importance of government transparency
Government entities – particularly those at the federal level – have been resistant to public-record requests about some of the weightiest drone-related matters.
REAL ID, No Child Left Behind, and the future of the Affordable Care Act
Despite an unbroken string of victories against its political foes, it is fair to ask whether the Affordable Care Act may yet succumb to its most daunting adversary – itself.
Minnesotans need to better evaluate when (and why) to amend their constitution
Our governing document has grown to look less like a constitution — full of broad and enduring principles — and more like a legislative code book, full of mutable detail.
Jennifer Daskal, Obama, and the institutionalizing of the war on terrorism
President Obama’s base is, for the most part, unaware that their standard-bearer is operating under some of the same assumptions as George W. Bush.
