News & Commentary

Constitutional mandate has potential to violate First Amendment rights of all North Dakotans

Our second in a series of updates from the 2017 North Dakota legislative session focuses on our lobbying efforts on criminal justice reform and privacy and technology.

The first in a series of updates on our lobbying efforts during the 2017 legislative session.

Three years ago, in a major address at the National Defense University, President Obama announced that he had signed a classified document to tighten and formalize the rules relating to the use of lethal force against suspected terrorists “outside the United States and areas of actual hostilities.” The document — the Presidential Policy Guidance, or PPG — was not published at the time, but a redacted version of it is likely to be disclosed in the next week or so, perhaps alongside several related documents, a new executive order, and official casualty statistics for the drone war.

Should patients have the same right to access their genetic information from a laboratory as they would a copy of their MRI, X-rays, or physical exam records?

The Daily Beast has reported that North Dakota has enacted a drone bill that permits law enforcement drones to be equipped with weapons such as Tasers, rubber bullets, tear gas, and sound cannons. This is a terrible idea.

Both Congress and the FAA have passed the buck on creating privacy protections for domestic drones. Some of the little work that has been done on privacy protections has fallen to the FAA’s six drone test sites across the country.