#civilliberties — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #civilliberties, aggregated by home.social.
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Gloria Steinem’s Final Essay before her death this week - "When you’re lucky enough to have lived a long life, as I have done, your role is to remind us how far we have come." https://periscope.corsfix.com/?https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newyorker.com%2Fculture%2Flife-and-letters%2Fgloria-steinems-final-essay= #civilliberties #women #girls #law #civilrights #justice #equality #publichealth #choice #privacy #freedom #voting #democracy
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this.weekinsecurity:
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Vigilantism comes for Flock
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"More Americans than ever are destroying Flock license plate cameras amid rising backlash against the company. Is the tide turning on intrusive U.S. mass surveillance, and where does the privacy fight go next?"https://this.weekinsecurity.com/vigilantism-comes-for-flock/
4.9.2026
#BigBrother #CivilLiberties #Flock #Freiheitsrechte #Kennzeichenscanner #LicensePlateCamera #LicensePlateTracking #Massenüberwachung #MassSurveillance #Privacy #Surveillance #Überwachung
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Texas: Faith, Freedom, and Mind Your Damn Business
By Cliff Potts, CSO
Editor-in-Chief, WPS NewsBaybay City, Leyte, Philippines — September 4, 2026, 9:15 p.m. PHT
Texas talks about faith constantly and practices freedom inconsistently. Religion is waved like a banner while personal liberty is quietly narrowed, regulated, or punished when it doesn’t line up with political fashion. This contradiction has become so normal that many Texans barely notice it anymore.
Faith is not the problem. Power is.
Faith Is Personal, Not Administrative
Texas is home to churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, meeting houses, and people who believe quietly or not at all. That pluralism is not a flaw. It is a fact. Faith has always been part of Texas life, but it has never belonged to the state.
When government begins enforcing one version of belief, it stops protecting faith and starts weaponizing it. That does not strengthen religion. It cheapens it. Faith that requires government backing is not faith—it is insecurity dressed up as authority.
People believe deeply without being coerced. The state does not need to supervise that.
Freedom Means Leaving People Alone
Texas politicians love to invoke freedom while inserting themselves into private decisions about bodies, families, education, and belief. That is not freedom. It is control wrapped in familiar language.
True freedom is not loud. It is boring. It is the quiet confidence that your neighbor’s life choices are none of your business unless they cause real harm. A free society tolerates disagreement without demanding conformity.
If a belief system is strong, it does not need the force of law to survive.
Religion in Schools Without Indoctrination
Teaching about religion is not the same thing as preaching it. Students benefit from understanding the beliefs that shape history, culture, and global affairs. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Indigenous traditions, and secular ethics all belong in a serious education.
Teaching one belief as truth while excluding others is not education. It is indoctrination. Texas should be confident enough to teach broadly without fear.
Knowledge does not weaken faith. It strengthens discernment.
The Myth of Moral Decline
Texas politics often leans on claims of moral collapse to justify intrusion into private life. These claims rarely hold up under scrutiny. Crime trends, family structures, and social behavior are influenced far more by economics, education, and stability than by religious enforcement.
Blaming social problems on belief differences avoids addressing harder causes like poverty, healthcare access, housing, and education. Moral panic is easier than policy work.
A serious state solves problems instead of sermonizing about them.
Faith Communities Do Real Work
Faith-based organizations are often the first to respond when communities struggle. They feed people, shelter families, provide counseling, and show up quietly without demanding credit. That work matters. It deserves respect and support.
What it does not require is political dominance. Faith communities are strongest when they act voluntarily, not when they are fused to state power.
Service speaks louder than slogans.
Freedom of Conscience Cuts Both Ways
Freedom of religion includes the freedom not to believe. It includes the freedom to change beliefs. It includes the freedom to practice quietly without public approval. Protecting conscience means accepting outcomes you may personally dislike.
That is the price of liberty. It is also its strength.
Texas cannot claim to honor freedom while punishing people for living differently.
When Government Picks Winners
History offers no shortage of warnings about governments that decide which beliefs are acceptable. Even when intentions begin as sincere, outcomes tend toward exclusion, resentment, and abuse. Texas is not immune to that pattern.
Keeping church and state separate does not weaken either. It protects both from corruption.
Personal Faith, Public Restraint
Leaders are allowed their faith. They are allowed to be guided by conscience. What they are not allowed to do is impose that conscience as law when it infringes on the rights of others.
Restraint is not betrayal. It is maturity.
What a Confident Texas Would Do
A confident Texas would protect freedom of worship for everyone and freedom from coercion for everyone else. It would teach religion academically, not devotionally. It would trust families and individuals to handle belief without supervision.
Most of all, it would stop confusing moral authority with legal power.
Why This Matters Going Forward
Faith will continue to shape Texas culture. That is not in question. The question is whether it will be used to inspire service and compassion—or to justify intrusion and control.
Freedom survives only when people mind their own damn business.
Texas is strong enough to do that.
This essay will be archived as part of the ongoing WPS News Monthly Brief Series available through Amazon.
References (APA)
#churchAndState #CivilLiberties #educationPolicy #personalFreedom #religiousFreedom #TexasPolitics #TexasReligion #WPSNews
Pew Research Center. (2025). Religious diversity and belief in the United States.
First Amendment Center. (2025). Religion, government, and constitutional boundaries.
National Council of State Legislatures. (2025). Religious freedom and public policy analysis.
Gallup. (2025). Public attitudes toward religion and government.
American Academy of Religion. (2025). Teaching religion in public education. -
"While standing in a private parking lot in Sussex, Wisconsin, on May 4, 2025, Napoleon Jones witnessed a traffic stop made by an out-of-county police officer. "It just didn't sit right with me," Jones told TMJ4 News, a local NBC News affiliate. "So I did what I legally could do, and I walked over and recorded it."
Jones, a United States Navy veteran, was well within his rights to record the police stop. But even though he recorded from a safe distance without interfering, that didn't stop the Waukesha County Sheriff's deputy, Brandon Shayhorn, from later unlawfully stopping and arresting Jones.
After Shayhorn completed the traffic stop, Jones returned to his vehicle. But before Jones could exit the parking lot, Shayhorn turned on his lights and initiated a second stop, claiming Jones' temporary license plate, displayed in the rearview window, was unreadable, reports TMJ4 News. Shayhorn demanded to see Jones' driver's license, but Jones refused, arguing that he'd been unlawfully pulled over on private property. Video clips of the encounter show the deputy opening Jones' door and pulling him from his vehicle."
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Ontario's cash bail law is unconstitutional – and Ford knows it. BUT "they deliberately undermine confidence in #courts, plow under the Charter and #civilliberties, and use real human suffering to manufacture a political grievance." https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/news/opinion/ontarios-cash-bail-law-is-unconstitutional-and-ford-knows-it/394586
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Flock is in Lafayette. Who else is watching you?
Everyone’s heard of Flock cameras. But they’re not the only ones watching Lafayette.https://thecurrentla.com/2026/flock-is-in-lafayette-who-else-is-watching-you/
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What #Flock’s defenders are missing
As cities reconsider the tech, it’s worth asking how design choices have shaped trade-off between solving crimes and protecting civil liberties
New policies don’t address broader concerns from #civilliberties and #privacy groups that Flock is turning crime-stopping tool into #masssurveillance. Criticisms led to a growing backlash that already has some cities canceling contracts and some states trying to ban #ALPR
https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/17/1142200/what-flocks-defenders-are-missing/
https://archive.ph/q3iXJ -
Since 2001, the Australian government has passed more than 100 pieces of "national security" legislation that limits our speech, our liberties, our rights and our movements, in ways most people don’t understand until it applies to them.
#australia #ausgov #authoritarianism #civilliberties #activism #surveillance
https://www.deepcutnews.com/p/dave-hughess-common-sense-is-just -
“The fact that Trump is now taking inspiration from Britain’s repression of the movement for Palestinian freedom exposes just how dangerous this ban is and should be a wake-up call to anyone who cares about #FreeSpeech and #CivilLiberties.”
#UKPol #USPol #PalestineAction
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/26/us-issues-sanctions-uk-based-palestine-action
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Flock’s license-plate network was used by Wisconsin police to track a man’s trips to Michigan and justify a car search. 🚨
As some cities drop Flock, others are replacing it with Axon ALPR systems that can blend into existing street infrastructure. 📷#TechNews #Flock #Axon #ALPR #Surveillance #Privacy #DigitalRights #CivilLiberties #Security #Technology #PoliceTech #DataPrivacy #SmartCities
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A US activist faces felony charges after using GrapheneOS’s duress code to erase his phone during a border search. 🔐
The DOJ alleges the deletion violated a law barring destruction of property to prevent seizure. ⚖️#TechNews #GrapheneOS #Privacy #DigitalRights #Encryption #OpenSource #Security #FOSS #UserControl #Technology #Mobile #CivilLiberties #Cybersecurity
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Which topic at "The Forever War and the First Amendment" are you most curious about? Share in comments👇
📍The Lee C. Bollinger Forum, Columbia University
📅 September 9–10
RSVP: knightcolumbia.org/events/the-f...
#FirstAmendment #PressFreedom #WarOnTerror #CivilLiberties #Journalism
The Forever War and the First ... -
"This designation lacks any real legal weight because U.S. law has no formal domestic terrorist organization category. Creating one risks infringing on First Amendment protected speech. #DomesticTerrorism itself is not a chargeable offense."
https://www.govexec.com/defense/2026/07/trump-directive-reshaped-governments-counterterrorism-approach/414869/
#NSPM7 #USpol #USpolitics #stateRepression #civilLiberties #freedomOfSpeech #Trump #Rubio #justice #fascization -
🚨 A 23-year-old Florida woman spent 13 days in jail and seven months under threat of life in prison for a triple-fatal hit-and-run she had nothing to do with.
On Oct 4, 2025, a speeding Dodge Durango caused a chain-reaction pileup on I-4 near DeBary, killing motorcyclist Joaquin Deno and Flagler County Deputy Administrator Jorge Salinas and his wife Nancy. Witnesses said the SUV was black, and a Flock license-plate reader had caught Lindsey Isaacs' black 2025 Durango about 3 miles west of the crash minutes before it happened. FHP seized her car that night and arrested her in April on eight felony counts, including three counts of vehicular homicide.
The case fell apart quickly: her SUV had zero damage, a 911 caller had reported the fleeing SUV was maroon (with the first three digits of its plate), and maroon paint transfer was found on one of the struck cars. Charges were dropped May 22, and Alisa Montalvo, 47, was arrested instead. Her maroon Durango had its driver-side doors replaced and airbags removed or stuffed back in to hide the crash.
The camera did what it was asked; the investigators just stopped looking once it handed them a suspect. Isaacs has since filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against FHP.
Read more:
https://www.wesh.com/article/woman-wrongfully-arrested-in-deadly-i-4-crash-speaks-out-after-charges-dropped/71393304
https://reason.com/2026/08/13/flock-cameras-and-license-plate-readers-are-everywhere-can-we-trust-cops-with-them/
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2026/05/24/wrong-woman-jailed-in-deadly-i-4-hit-and-run-after-witnesses-misidentified-suv-color-records-show/ -
#CivilLiberties groups Monday asked #SCOTUS to hear their challenge of a #Texas #law requiring that all #PublicSchools’ classrooms display the #TenCommandments, potentially setting up a landmark clash over the #SeparationOfChurchAndState.
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"A Sacramento immigration law firm claims #ICE agents arrived at its office without a warrant, threatened to break in, and targeted the firm based on a list of addresses allegedly linked to undocumented immigrants":
https://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-immigration-law-firm-ice-agents/73441433
#brutality #thuggery #recklessness #HumanRights #CivilLiberties #politics -
Flock cameras, and automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are _inherently_ unlawful, _unavoidably_ contrary to the U.S. Constitution.
Yet another expert's view: youtube.com/shorts/DUQGu...
#USpol #law #CivilLiberties #CivilRights #FourthAmendment #4thAmendment
Ohio professor specialized in ... -
Flock cameras, and automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are _inherently_ unlawful, _unavoidably_ contrary to the U.S. Constitution.
Yet another expert's view: https://youtube.com/shorts/DUQGu4l4a2g
#USpol #law #CivilLiberties #CivilRights #FourthAmendment #4thAmendment
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“France's Constitutional Council on Friday, August 14, struck down the ban on social media for children under 15, a flagship policy of President Emmanuel Macron's second term, calling the measure "a disproportionate restriction" on freedom of expression.
The Council ruled that Article 1 of a law adopted in July, intended to protect minors from the risks associated with the use of social media, "constitutes a restriction that is not appropriate, necessary or proportionate" to the freedom of expression and communication of under-15s.
While recognizing the "constitutional requirement to protect the best interests of the child," the judges said that such a broad ban "could apply to online communication services for which the risks to the health and safety of minors (...) have not been established."”
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Despite 'New' Updates, Flock's Creepy #Cameras Remain Major #CivilLiberties Threat
In response to Flock’s announcement of operational changes, the #ACLU breaks down why many fall short.
#alpr #flock #surveillance #privacy -
The US reportedly ran a mass surveillance campaign targeting leftwing and anti-ICE protesters. The key detail worth examining: what legal authorities were invoked, what data was collected, and whether oversight mechanisms flagged anything. Protest activity as an intelligence target raises concrete questions about scope, retention, and proportionality. #Surveillance #CivilLiberties #infosec
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/13/us-government-spied-anti-ice-protesters
