Civil liberties

Columbia Professor Rebecca Jordan-Young: "The faculty who are supporting the students do not all agree on the issue of Israel and Palestine...[but] we are astonished and disgusted with the way the university has cracked down on the students."  Two minutes more of her wisdom

WhoWhatWhy-  The US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination does not prohibit police officers from forcing a suspect to unlock a phone with a thumbprint scan, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. The ruling does not apply to all cases in which biometrics are used to unlock an electronic device but is a significant decision in an unsettled area of the law. The US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit had to grapple with the question of ‘whether the compelled use of Payne’s thumb to unlock his phone was testimonial,’ the ruling in United States v. Jeremy Travis Payne said. … A three-judge panel at the 9th Circuit ruled unanimously against Payne, affirming a US District Court’s denial of Payne’s motion to suppress evidence.