FBI admits to flying drones over US without warrantsThe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says it has used drones for domestic surveillance purposes in the United States at least ten times without obtaining warrants. In three additional cases, drones were authorized but “not actually used.” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Thursday published a letter from FBI Assistant Director Stephen D.

Cop Fired for Speaking Out Against Ticket and Arrest QuotasAuburn, Alabama is home to sprawling plains, Auburn University, and a troubling police force. After the arrival of a new police chief in 2010, the department entered an era of ticket quotas and worse.

Lawmakers Who Upheld NSA Phone Spying Received Double the Defense Industry CashThe numbers tell the story – in votes and dollars. On Wednesday, the House voted 217 to 205 not to rein in the NSA’s phone-spying dragnet. It turns out that those 217 “no” voters received twice as much campaign financing from the defense and intelligence industry as the 205 “yes” voters.

Pittsburgh SWAT sued for ‘terrorizing’ young family at gunpointA Pennsylvania family has filed a lawsuit against the Pittsburgh police department, claiming that two dozen SWAT team members raided their home and terrorized their two children in retaliation for a prior incident involving an officer outside a local bar.

SEC seeking warrant exemption for private email accessThe US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has become the latest federal government agency to push for greater access to private email data. An agency proposal next week is expected to request warrantless powers.

State AGs Ask Congress to Gut Critical CDA 230 Online Speech ProtectionsEarlier today, 47 state attorneys general asked Congress to severely undermine the most important law protecting free speech on the Internet.

Feds put heat on Web firms for master encryption keysWhether the FBI and NSA have the legal authority to obtain the master keys that companies use for Web encryption remains an open question, but it hasn’t stopped the U.S. government from trying. (Credit: Declan McCullagh) The U.S. government has attempted to obtain the master encryption keys that Internet companies use to shield millions of users’ private Web communications from eavesdropping.

Russia Cites Extradition as Sore Point With U.S.MOSCOW – Russian officials complained on Monday that the United States routinely disregards extradition requests by the Russian government, the latest in a series of public statements that seem aimed at laying the groundwork for granting asylum to Edward J. Snowden, the former intelligence contractor on the run from the American authorities.

A.C.L.U. Urges Inquiries in Shooting of Man Tied to Boston SuspectWASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union on Monday urged local law enforcement officials in Florida and Massachusetts to open investigations into how an F.B.I. agent killed a man who was being interrogated in his Orlando apartment about the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.

Judge says family of bioweapons scientist can’t sue CIA over unsolved deathA federal judge in Washington, DC has dismissed a lawsuit that alleged the CIA murdered one of its own agents in 1953 and then attempted to pass it off as a suicide. Sixty years after the death of bioweapons expert Dr. Frank Olson, United States District Judge James E.

Panama releases former CIA operative wanted by ItalyA former CIA operative detained in Panama this week at the request of Italian authorities over his conviction in the 2003 kidnapping of a Muslim cleric in Milan was released Friday and had boarded a flight to the United States, U.S. officials said.

MIT Moves to Intervene in Release of Aaron Swartz’s Secret Service FileLawyers representing MIT are filing a motion to intervene in my FOIA lawsuit over thousands of pages of Secret Service documents about the late activist and coder Aaron Swartz. I am the plaintiff in this lawsuit.

Manning trial sets execution precedent for future whistleblowersThe decision to pursue a charge of aiding and abetting the enemy against whistleblower Bradley Manning opens the door to future whistleblowers facing execution, Jeff Paterson, director of Courage to Resist told RT. RT: You were actually at the courtroom today – what are your impressions of the conduct of the trial, and of Manning himself?