by TChris

You have no expectation of privacy in a public place, the argument goes, so why be concerned if the government keeps you under surveillance as you go about your public life? As a matter of public policy, however, most Americans would prefer not to have their lives recorded on spy cameras.

As TalkLeft noted here, owners of private surveillance cameras often make their recordings available to the police. New York City police don't want to rely upon private cameras; they want to install 400 surveillance cameras in high crime areas to supplement the 80 they already operate.

Other large cities that are aggressively stepping up surveillance systems include Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans, financed in part with federal funds. Chicago, which has the second-largest police department in the country, announced in September that it would be linking together 2,000 surveillance cameras.

Police say that the cameras deter crime. Maybe. And cameras have been known to help innocent suspects avoid unjust convictions. Still, the phrase "your government is watching you" provokes unease and invites debate about the limits our society should place on our government. That debate should occur before the cameras are installed.

Via AmericaBlog....show some Heart for Kraft Foods for this courageous stand. Call them at 1-800-323-0768 and go buy some Mac and Cheese.

Read Kraft's letter, via Kos:

The true test of any commitment is how you respond when challenged. Kraft is experiencing this to a degree right now, as a result of our decision to be one of several contributors to the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago. The games will bring together thousands of athletes in a competition that will take place in our corporate hometown....

by TChris

Schools can't teach the value of free speech by suppressing speech. The only lesson students at El Camino Real High School have learned is that even mild cricitism of a Republican president will be met with censorship.

Theater students designed posters to advertise their play, "The Complete History of America (Abridged)," which takes a satirical view of U.S. history. The posters depicted President Bush as Groucho Marx. A student supporter of the president complained, and the principal responded by tearing down the posters.

Undaunted, the theater students -- who have a better grasp of the Constitution than their principal -- put up new posters.

The new designs all feature a silhouette of Bush and a burning cigar, along with inscriptions such as "Free Expression for All (unless you are in high school)" and "What First Amendment?"

Good for them.

This is pretty ridiculous. Someone in Washington State is driving around with the license plate "C9H13N" and the state is upset because it says it's the formula for methamphetamine.

The plate appears to be counter to state regulations that ban vanity plates making reference to alcohol or illegal substances.

Only it's also the formula for amphetamine and amphetamines lawfully are used in medicines. Hundreds of substances have the same chemcial formula. The chemical formula for scopolamine , also known as ( truth serum)is C17H21NO4. The chemical formula for cocaine is the same: C17H21NO4. The two compounds have the same molecular formula but different structural formulas, thereby accounting for the different effects. Would a plate reading "C17H21NO4" be illegal too?

by TChris

The fear of Big Brother watching our every move has often defeated government plans to install surveillance cameras. Creeping into the public consciousness, however, is the reality that government usually obtains access to the private cameras that have become ubiquitous in urban areas.

According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, which tracked cameras from 1998 to 2004, publicly visible cameras in Chelsea have gone to 368 from 67; in Times Square, to 258 from 98; and on the Lower East Side, to 125 from 21.

Often the private camera in a building, store or restaurant might as well belong to the government, since private entities usually turn their videos over to police investigators after a crime.

The evidence provided by a clear picture is usually more reliable than eyewitness testimony, and can forestall accusations against innocent bystanders. Still, the realization that government has such easy access to cameras that chronicle the daily lives of many is unsettling.

A few weeks ago, the FBI announced it would exhume the body of Emmett Till as part of its reopening of the teen's murder case. Today it disclosed that it had located a copy of a copy of the original trial transcript--missing for decades.

Justice for Emmet Till may be getting closer.

Racial profiling is alive and well in Texas. First there was Driving While Black. Now, a new report shows that in San Antonio, African American pedestrians were three times more likely to be stopped last year than whites or hispanics.

On a more positive note, Grits for Breakfast reports that the Texas Senate has followed the House and approved a bill establishing a central registry of data pertaining to racial profiling. Here's a statistic for you:

The data gathered under Texas' racial profiling law, though isn't just about race, but also about police practices like consent searches. This data contributed to the decision by the Austin Police Department to begin requiring written consent at traffic stops, then documented a 63% decline in drivers' consent to search after the policy was implemented.

Remember the fiasco of the Republican National Convention when hundreds were rounded up and kept in cages on the West Side for days without seeing a Judge? This happens every day in New York, particularly to the poor and people of color.

On May 24, a sorely needed bill will be introduced in New York. It will require police to bring an arrested person before a judge within 24 hours or release the individual. It's called the "Charge or Release" bill and a rally will be held Next Tuesday, May 24, to support it in New York.

During the Republican National Convention, hundreds of demonstrators were detained for 30, 40, or even 50 hours without seeing a judge. Each day in New York City, hundreds of New Yorkers, primarily from communities of color, lose wages or even jobs because they’re held by the police for longer than the 24 hours permitted by law. On May 25, Council Member Bill Perkins will introduce the Charge or Release bill to fix the problem of prolonged detentions by the police.

by TChris

How will kids ever learn to respect and appreciate the First Amendment when schools persist in punishing them for exercising their right to free expression? Kerry Lofy went to his senior prom with a gay friend who didn't have a date. Lofy hoped to make a statement about "fitting in" at the prom by his attire: he wore a dress and earrings, and he carried a purse.

Although school authorities didn't turn away the other attendees who wore prom dresses (they happened to be females), they sent Lofy home. Undeterred, Lofy returned in a leisure suit. Poor fashion sense wasn't enough to dissuade the school administration from letting Lofy in, so Lofy was allowed to enter the prom. He later ripped off the leisure suit to reveal his dress.

Colorado Governor Bill Owens has a bill (SB 05-028) on his desk right now, passed by the state legislature, that would make Colorado the 17th state to extend its employment non-discrimination law to cover sexual orientation. The bill also would prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability or gender identity.

Governor Owens has vetoed 11 bills so far this legislative session and says he may strive for a "personal best" record by vetoing additional bills. This bill could be one of those.

Take a moment and go over to Progress Now and sign this short letter to Governor Owens that reads:

We urge you to do the right thing for all Coloradans and sign into law SB 28. No Coloradan should fear for her job simply because of her sexual orientation. Our nation was founded on the ideal of equality, and expanding employment non-discrimination to include sexual orientation is another step toward that ideal.

The letter asks only for a name and email address.

by TChris

Some members of the East Waynesville Baptist Church in North Carolina were displeased when Rev. Chan Chandler told them he'd kick them out of the church if they voted for Kerry. Rev. Chandler denies that he "positively endorsed" Bush, but admits that he gave Kerry a "negative endorsement." That subtle distinction apparently convinces Rev. Chandler that he didn't turn his church into a satellite office for the Bush campaign.

Still, long-standing parishoners didn't approve of Rev. Chandler's desire to politicize their church.

Tensions had escalated last week, when several members said Chandler called a meeting of the church's board of deacons and declared his intention for East Waynesville to become a politically active church. Anyone who did not like that direction was free to leave, Chandler said a statement that caused nine members to walk out.

Extremists seem to enjoy causing diviseness, and that's what Rev. Chandler did. In the end, Rev. Chandler resigned, but he took with him "many of the young congregants" he recruited, leaving behind those who sensibly believe that government and religion should play separate roles in their lives.

Over the winter, Defense Tech's Noah Shachtman spent a week and a half riding around Chicago with the police. After "2,250 spy cameras, 466,000 pieces of evidence, four suspected drug dealers, and one giant car chase," Noah has written this report for Wired magazine, in which he says,

Chicago's two-fisted street cops have a new kind of backup: a point-and-click surveillance network tied to a citywide crime-fighting database. (Smile for the camera.)