Category: Free Speech

Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Politics, Science, Society

Chad Dixon Gets 8 Months For “Lie Detector Fraud”

by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger

department-of-justice-logo1This is an update to a story originally posted here by Charlton Stanley, “Polygraphers trigger fear response in Federal prosecutors.”

Chad Dixon, a 34 year old Marion, Indiana little league coach who ran the “PolygraphExpert.net” website teaching people how to defeat polygraph tests, was sentenced to eight months in jail for threatening national security by teaching government job applicants how to beat lie-detector tests. Teaching such techniques and discussing them is not per se illegal. It is an admitted gray area in 1st Amendment jurisprudence.  However, U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady found the evidence compelling enough that Dixon had crossed the line when he advised some clients, including two undercover officers, to conceal what he taught them while undergoing government polygraphs. This is in addition to the charges of obstruction and wire fraud Dixon plead guilty to last year.

Nina Ginsberg, Dixon’s attorney, accused prosecutors of trying to turn her client into a “poster child for its newly undertaken campaign” to stop people from using the polygraph disruption techniques. the prosecution had sought a two year sentence, but Judge O’Grady thought that eight months was sufficient. O’Grady said, “There’s nothing unlawful about maybe 95 percent of the business he conducted,” although he added that “a sentence of incarceration is absolutely necessary to deter others.”

As Charlton Stanley’s original column indicated, lie detectors are anything but a lie detector.  “[L]ie detector technology has no known statistical properties with regard to detecting deception of any kind. It has not been accepted as science in the scientific community. The only thing scientists seem to agree on is most of these machines measure stress reactions in humans, and to that extent, they can measure stress in people who feel stress—that’s it.”

Deterrent based on legitimate concerns or chilling of free speech in the name of protecting a test of dubious value?

What do you think?

Source: Seattle Times

~submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger

Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Justice, Media, Science, Society, Uncategorized

Encryption and the Spymasters: Is Privacy Dead?

Submitted by Charlton Stanley (aka Otteray Scribe) Guest Blogger

ImageImageFirst there was WikiLeaks, then there was Edward Snowden. The drip, drip, drip of information about secretive spy agencies continues. There have been bombshell revelations about the extent to which government agencies like the FBI, CIA, NSA and others are invading our most private communications. Of course, spies do what spies do, and that is to spy on whoever or whatever they can get away with. Few people understood the implications of PRISM when news of the program was leaked. Additionally, I suspect that despite revelations of its existence, the full extent of its capability and reach will never be known by the public.

The NSA reportedly paid tech companies millions of dollars to cover the cost of compliance with their “requests” for back-door access to the software package.

Another program to keep in mind is the FBI Stingray operation that sucks up wireless telephone communications. Last May, in the first litigation where the government admitted having Stingray, Arizona Federal District Judge David Campbell dismissed a motion to suppress.  Judge Campbell is a George W. Bush appointee. PDF of his ruling is here.  Last July, the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in the Northern District of California, in an effort to learn more about Stingray, and if it is scooping up domestic phone calls.
Continue reading “Encryption and the Spymasters: Is Privacy Dead?” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society

Obama Administration Secures Gag Order To Prevent Activist From Discussing Online Surveillance

220px-Barrett_Brown_2007In its latest attack on the free speech, the Obama Administration has secured a gag order to prevent activist-journalist Barrett Brown and his lawyers from discussing his work exposing online surveillance by the Administration. On this occasion, however, Eric Holder and the Obama Administration convinced a federal judge to go along. U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay in Dallas Texas has issued a sweeping gag order to prevent not just Brown but his legal team from discussing the online surveillance. The Justice Department insisted on the order to protect Brown. That’s right, they insist that, if Brown discussed the abusive surveillance by the Obama Administration, it would endanger his right to a fair trial.

Continue reading “Obama Administration Secures Gag Order To Prevent Activist From Discussing Online Surveillance” →

Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society

UCLA Students Declare “Illegal Immigrant” To Be Racist And Discriminatory

Ucla_logoDespite the obvious free speech concerns, UCLA’s undergraduate student government unanimously passed a resolution  last week to declare that  any use of the term “illegal immigrant” is now deemed racist and offensive.  It is an example of how anti-discrimination policies are cutting deeply into free speech.  Millions of people in this country are indeed here illegally.  While many would prefer to use “undocumented workers,”  many others believe that these individuals are illegal by definition and should not be allowed to circumvent immigration laws.  It is a worthy debate with arguments on both sides. However, I am very uncomfortable with students (who historically have been voiced for free speech) declaring that use of this descriptive term is now considered racist or prejudicial.

Continue reading “UCLA Students Declare “Illegal Immigrant” To Be Racist And Discriminatory” →

Bizarre, Free Speech, International, Justice, Media, Politics, Society, Uncategorized

Trumped!

Submitted By: Mike Spindell, Guest Blogger

495px-Donald_Trump_by_Gage_SkidmoreMost readers of Jonathan Turley’s blog are concerned with the direction that this country has taken of late. In truth the problems we see are merely the manifestations of a long term trend that has resulted in a lack of respect for our republican form of government as defined by our Constitution. One merely has to go through the range of stories covered only in this past week’s Jonathan Turley blogs, to understand that we are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history. The issue to me is whether our country goes fully down the road towards empire. The phenomenon of a nation with overwhelming military superiority becoming imperial is a drama played out over and again over eons on the world’s stage. With empire perforce comes the trappings of an imperial state and with it the creation of an elite class defined by the term “nobility.” When a society defines an elite, whether called “the Nobility”; “the Cream of the Crop”; “The Upper Crust”; or even “Celebrities”; you can be certain the need to have an “underclass” becomes imperative.  From a psychological standpoint once someone has the need to define themselves as being “elite”, they of necessity have to have people of “lesser worth” to compare themselves to and to differentiate their status. For a society to maintain this status hierarchy there then arises the necessity to have the “underclass” see ”their betters” as superior beings, living superior lives to their own. The “elite” must by definition be more beautiful, more wise and smarter than the “mob” beneath them. The “elite” set the trends and the fashions and it seems the “mob” is always one or two steps behind their lead. I believe that this is what we are observing today in our country. As an example within the past month we have been treated to the spectacle of one cable news network (CNN) devoting 24 hours of exclusive coverage to the birth of an heir to the English Throne.

To my mind there is no person in America who exemplifies the trend to establish a 21st Century nobility in this country, via celebrity, than the man now known as “The Donald”, the sadly ubiquitous Mr. Trump. As a New Yorker at the beginning of this man’s rise to fame, I watched with amusement and then disgust as he turned himself into a “brand” that to us common folk represented wealth, fame and its attendant luxury. Continue reading “Trumped!” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Society

Russian Police Shut Down Art Gallery After They Show Painting of Putin In Women’s Underwear

225px-Vladimir_Putin_official_portraitRussian police have shutdown an art gallery in the latest attack on free speech under President Vladimir Putin. The police declared a painting to be illegal and pornographic because it depicted Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in women’s underwear and another of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church covered in tattoos. The paintings were seized from the Museum of Power. Last year, we saw how a protester was arrested for spitting on the image of Putin during a demonstration. It appears that after years of cultivating a cult of personality with action-hero photo ops and staged acts, Putin is not about to let a bunch of artists mock his well constructed image.

Continue reading “Russian Police Shut Down Art Gallery After They Show Painting of Putin In Women’s Underwear” →

Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society

Tulane Law Dean And Former U.S. Attorney Faces Questions Over Confrontation With Filmmaker On Campus

200px-Jim_Letten_US_Attorney391392_10150673300727910_1485282147_nThere is a controversy brewing at Tulane Law School where I began my academic career. The law school was the scene of a confrontation between controversial conservative filmmaker and activist James O’Keefe and former U.S. Attorney James Letten whose office handled the prosecution of O’Keefe for his entry in the office of Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu under false pretenses. Letten is now an Assistant Dean at the law school. Letten never explained why he recused himself from the case but O’Keefe suggests that he was responsible for leaking confidential information to the media. In the video below posted and edited by O’Keefe, Letten confronted O’Keefe and accuses him of “terrorizing” his wife and violating state and federal law by appearing at the law school. Letten calls O’Keefe and his crew a bunch of “hobbits” and berates the filmmaker. While I am no fan of O’Keefe, I am afraid that I do not see the basis for the alleged crimes by O’Keefe or the basis for his being held by law enforcement outside of the law school. The school has banned O’Keefe from the campus after the confrontation with Letten.

Continue reading “Tulane Law Dean And Former U.S. Attorney Faces Questions Over Confrontation With Filmmaker On Campus” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Justice, Lawyering

Sovereign Citizens With a Penchant for Filing Liens

SPLC_Logo

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

I have to admit that I knew very little about the sovereign citizen movement before I read a New York times article a couple of days ago that opened my eyes to the movement and how some in that movement have attacked government officials and civil service workers.  To fully understand how members of the sovereign citizens movement think, one must know a little about their beliefs.

“Sovereign citizens believe that in the 1800s, the federal government was gradually subverted and replaced by an illegitimate government. They create their own driver’s licenses and include their thumbprints on documents to distinguish their flesh and blood person from a “straw man” persona that they say has been created by the false government. When writing their names, they often add punctuation marks like colons or hyphens.” New York Times Continue reading “Sovereign Citizens With a Penchant for Filing Liens” →

Bizarre, Courts, Free Speech, Justice, Media, Society

Paula Deen Discrimination Suit Settled – Racism, Not [Updated w/ Incredible Statement From Lisa Jackson]

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

paula-deen2_custom-0b30419dbbe077460d439775b6a773a8fdd8c906-s3-c85We’ve been following the discrimination suit brought by an employee of restaurants owned by  food maven Paula Deen. Lisa Jackson, who is Caucasian, claimed that she was subjected to a racially hostile work environment at Deen’s Uncle Bubba’s and The Lady and Sons restaurants. Jackson alleged that Paula Deen’s brother, Bubba,  routinely used derogatory racial epithets and sexually suggestive comments during her working hours as a manager at the restaurant. She also alleged that Deen acquiesced in the treatment and used racist comments herself.  A firestorm of negative publicity formed after Deen’s deposition transcript was leaked to the media in which she admitted using the term “ni**er” many years ago. Deem lost two national cable television shows and a host of endorsements following the story. Her two video apologies did little to assuage the sentiment that she was a racist.

Continue reading “Paula Deen Discrimination Suit Settled – Racism, Not [Updated w/ Incredible Statement From Lisa Jackson]” →

Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Religion, Society

New Mexico Supreme Court Rules Photographer Cannot Refuse To Work At Same-Sex Marriage

RainbowFlag125px-Flag_of_New_Mexico.svgThe New Mexico Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a photography studio violated the the New Mexico Human Rights Act (NMHRA) by refusing to photograph a same-sex wedding. Vanessa Willock was told that Elane Photography had a moral objection to her gay wedding and sued under the act, which “prohibits a public accommodation from refusing to offer its services to a person based on that person’s sexual orientation.” The case is the latest in a growing number of such conflicts between religious beliefs and anti-discrimination laws. Because this is an expressive activity, it raises some difficult questions under the first amendment rights of the owners of Elane Photography, Jonathan and Elaine Huguenin. As one justice noted in concurrence, this is “the price of citizenship.” However, there remains the question of the right of citizens not to be forced to express ideas or values with which they disagree. That concern rests on a distinction between an expressive activity like photography and a cab or a movie theater in public accommodation.

Continue reading “New Mexico Supreme Court Rules Photographer Cannot Refuse To Work At Same-Sex Marriage” →

Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Justice, Science, Uncategorized

Polygraphers trigger fear response in Federal prosecutors.

Submitted by Charlton Stanley, (aka Otteray Scribe) guest blogger

Polygraph tests are 20th-century witchcraft.
 -Sen. Sam Ervin (1896-1995)

ImageAs the Obama administration and the Department of Justice ramps up the crackdown on security violators and leakers, the whole thing has taken a bizarre turn. There is an ongoing criminal investigation of instructors who claim they can teach job applicants how to pass lie-detector tests. The two men are Doug Williams, who operates Polygraph.com, and Chad Dixon, who had a website called “PolygraphExpert.net” which has been taken down. Chad Dixon has entered a guilty plea, but the charges against him are being kept secret under seal. Dixon faces a maximum sentence of up to 25 years in prison; however, prosecutors are asking for a two-year sentence. Williams has not been charged with any crime; at least not yet, but is said to be under investigation. His only publiccomment was to say he has done nothing wrong.

The criminal investigation has not been acknowledged publicly. What little news that has come out is the claim it is meant to discourage criminals and spies from infiltrating the U.S. government by using so-called polygraph-beating techniques. Several current or former polygraph examiners are alleged to have been providing training materials and classes on how lie detector devices work and how to “beat” them.

Doug Williams and Chad Dixon’s business records were seized. The records are believed to include the names of as many as 5,000 persons who sought advice from the two men. The government claims about twenty of those people applied for positions with the government or government contractors. About half of that group was hired, including one or more getting jobs with the National Security Agency (NSA).

Federal officials have adopted a unique and controversial legal theory that teaching clients how lie detectors work and how to pass the test is a crime, and not protected under the First Amendment.

I find this more than curious. By way of full disclosure, I own a voice stress analysis machine and several biofeedback devices. I first became interested in the detection of malingering, dissimulation and outright lying when I was still in graduate school, and have maintained that interest ever since. Some people lie to look good, and some lie to look bad. Some lie and don’t even know they are lying. Some lie when the truth would serve them better.

In this piece, we will take a look at exactly what it is the Feds are talking about. And we will puzzle about why they want to make it a crime for anyone to teach people how the machines work. Or more accurately, don’t work.

Everyone is familiar with anxiety. Hands sweat, voice trembles, breathing may become more rapid, and the heart races. Many times trembling is visible to the naked eye. Anxiety is a fear reaction. Both the polygraph and voice stress analysis take advantage of these physiological reactions to fear, and take measurements of them. The theory behind both machines is that an anxious person will react. Practitioners of polygraphy and voice stress analysis operate on the assumption that telling a lie will result in a predictable and measurable physiological reaction.

Continue reading “Polygraphers trigger fear response in Federal prosecutors.” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Free Speech, Justice, Lawyering, Society, Supreme Court

Bloomberg’s Sweet Revenge?

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

soda_kidA recent study by Columbia University researchers may present a problem for civil libertarians basking in the defeat of Mayor Bloomberg’s Big Gulp ban. As many of us know, the NYC mayor proposed and then passed a health rule  prohibiting restaurants, mobile food carts, delis and concessions at movie theaters, stadiums and arenas from selling sugary drinks in cups or containers larger than 16 ounces. The New York State appellate division upheld Judge  Milton Tingling’s ruling that Bloomberg “eviscerated” the separation of powers doctrine by making an end run around  the City Council and presenting the measure to the NYC Board of Health. The city plans to appeal but it is now armed with an important study concerning the effects of sugar on children.

Continue reading “Bloomberg’s Sweet Revenge?” →

Free Speech, Society

Time Magazine Reporter Tweets He Cannot Wait to Defend Drone Strike on Julian Assange

Submitted by Darren Smith, Guest Blogger

Michael GrunwaldIn what became a highly charged row, Time Magazine Reporter Michael Grunwald posted on twitter “I can’t wait to write a defense of the drone strike that takes out Julian Assange.” After a frantic and very pointed response Mr. Grunwald deleted the post and issued an apology which read “It was a dumb tweet.  I’m sorry.  I deserve the backlash. (Maybe not the anti-Semitic stuff but otherwise I asked for it.”

Time Magazine issued a statement distancing itself from the controversial tweet. “Michael Grunwald posted an offensive tweet from his personal Twitter account that is in no way representative of TIME’s views. He regrets having tweeted it, and he removed it from his feed.”

The fact that a news reporter of a major publication in the United States advocates the extra-judicial assassination of another person who publishes information to the public is certainly disturbing in itself.  But, is it also equally as disturbing that it might be an insight into the mindset of some reporters of their mode of being defenders of the U.S. Government’s and the administration’s practices?

Continue reading “Time Magazine Reporter Tweets He Cannot Wait to Defend Drone Strike on Julian Assange” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Politics, Society

Round Up The Rodeo Clowns: NAACP Official Calls For Rodeo Employees To Be Prosecuted For Hate Crime

futurememories_2268_871136468479px-Bull-Riding-SzmurloThere was a national controversy created recently when a rodeo clown, Tuffy Gessling, put together an act involving a President Barack Obama mask at the Missouri State Fair. The announcer reportedly called out “This bull’s going to get’cha, Obama! He’s gonna get’cha!” The reaction was fierce. Gessling was given a lifetime ban and the announcer, Mark Ficken, resigned. All clowns will now have to go through a “sensitivity training” course after the incident. However, The President of the Missouri Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Mary Radliff is calling for the prosecution of the key players for a hate crime. Radliff’s statements shows how broad this controversial crime has become and how it can now threaten free speech principles.

Continue reading “Round Up The Rodeo Clowns: NAACP Official Calls For Rodeo Employees To Be Prosecuted For Hate Crime” →

Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics

Pruning The Fourth Estate: Feinstein Seeks To Limit Who Can Claim To Be A Journalist

225px-dianne_feinstein_official_senate_photoI have previously discussed the curiosity of California’s Democratic leaders in Congress leading the fight for massive warrantless surveillance and attacks on privacy. California Senator Dianne Feinstein has long been viewed as hazard to civil liberties from her knowledge of the torture program to consistent support for the expansion of a security state system. Feinstein is now back in that ignoble role this week, fighting to limit the meaning of journalist to prevent bloggers and others from being able to claim protections from surveillance or compelled testimony. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin has joined Feinstein in seeking to define most people out of protections for media.

Continue reading “Pruning The Fourth Estate: Feinstein Seeks To Limit Who Can Claim To Be A Journalist” →