NDAA Setback: Latest Court Ruling Paves Way for ‘Indefinite Detention’

Tracy Bloom / Truthdig Oct 4, 2012 An appeals court Tuesday extended a temporary stay of a judge's order prohibiting the Obama administration's controversial efforts to put any U.S. citizen the government deems a terrorism suspect behind bars indefinitely without being charged or tried.An appeals court extends the stay of a judge's order blocking the provision. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Bill Moyers: The Hoax of Citizens United

Tracy Bloom / Truthdig Jul 9, 2012 According to Bill Moyers, the Supreme Court's recent decision not to revisit the controversial Citizens United ruling shows that the case was never about free speech. Instead, he argues, the Citizens United decision was just a hoax (albeit a really big one). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Say ‘Hi-Ho!’ as They Strip-Search You

Staff / Truthdig May 27, 2012 Reflecting on his arrest with Kurt Vonnegut while protesting apartheid outside the South African consulate in the early 1980s, David Lindorff, founder of the news blog This Can’t Be Happening, says he and the author might be treated differently if they were arrested today. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Twitter Prepares to Clip Its Wings

Staff / Truthdig Jan 28, 2012 One year after the beginning of the Egyptian uprising that it helped make possible, Twitter began its descent down what media commentator Jeff Jarvis called the “slippery slope of censorship,” announcing that it would begin to locally censor tweets that governments find objectionable. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Super PACs Super-Size Campaign Corruption

Bill Boyarsky / Truthdig Jan 21, 2012 Given time and enough money, the super PACs and other secretive political campaign funds are capable of causing corruptive influence that could reach from the presidency down to the lowest ranked members of the House.In the 2010 elections, 80 super PACs registered with the Federal Election Commission. This year, more than 250 have signed up. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Bradley Manning’s Pretrial Hearing Begins

Staff / Truthdig Dec 17, 2011 Friday marked the first day of Pvt. Bradley Manning's hearing at Fort Meade, Md., and it wasn't without some courtroom commotion. Lawyer David Coombs, who is representing the accused WikiLeaks informer, came out swinging by requesting that the investigating officer in charge of Manning's case recuse himself. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Media Complain of ‘Hostile’ NYPD (Update)

Staff / Truthdig Nov 22, 2011 Some of the nation's most prestigious news organizations, including AP and The New York Times, are condemning New York City's treatment of the media, writing in a letter that "police actions of last week have been more hostile " (more). Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Why the First Amendment Won’t Protect Occupiers

Bill Blum / Truthdig Nov 16, 2011 Those who believe the courts will come to the rescue have bought into the popular mythology surrounding the amendment’s depth and reach. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Big Tobacco Sues Over Graphic Labels

Staff / Truthdig Aug 17, 2011 Tobacco giants, wary of the effect new government-mandated warnings may have on cigarette smokers, filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, claiming that the labels are unconstitutional. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Yes to Violence, No to Sex

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Jun 29, 2011 Scalia’s opinion is actually quite thrilling in enunciating an extremely broad definition of the free speech rights of minors. But it is simply bizarre in dismissing the claimed harmful effects of violent depictions while still insisting on the strictest puritanical view of the dangers of sexual imagery. This American life of ours has long been pro-violence and anti-sex, unless the two can be merged so that violence is the dominant theme. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Tuchuses and Nay-Nays

Mr. Fish / Truthdig Jan 21, 2011 Tuchuses and nay-nays, to me, became a metaphor for what it meant to replace the literal meaning of something with the figurative meaning; that is, to replace the facts with a value judgment that had less to do with the truth and more to do with a particular interpretation of the truth.Tuchuses and nay-nays, to me, became a metaphor for what it meant to replace the literal meaning of something with the figurative meaning. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

‘Pedophile’s Guide’ Author Arrested

Staff / Truthdig Dec 21, 2010 The author who gained national attention last month by selling his self-published “Pedophile’s Guide to Love & Pleasure” on Amazon has been arrested on obscenity charges. Authorities are concerned that the book advocates illegal behavior, a familiar challenge to free speech protections. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )