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posted by martyb on Friday July 20 2018, @11:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the sue-or-be-suet? dept.

Rolling Stone:

When a U.S. citizen heard he was on his own country’s drone target list, he wasn’t sure he believed it. After five near-misses, he does – and is suing the United States to contest his own execution
...
With Reprieve’s help, Kareem did what the system asks a law-abiding American citizen with a grievance to do. He sued, filing a complaint in district court in Washington, D.C., on March 30th, 2017, asking the U.S. government to take him off the Kill List, at least until he had a chance to challenge the evidence against him.

The case, still unresolved more than a year later, has awesome implications not just for Kareem but for all Americans – all people everywhere, for that matter.

It’s not a stretch to say that it’s one of the most important lawsuits to ever cross the desk of a federal judge. The core of the Bill of Rights is in play, and a wrong result could formalize a slide into authoritarianism that began long ago, but accelerated after 9/11.

He needs to take the matter to Information Retrieval, but heaven help him if he doesn't get his receipt stamped first.

[Ed note: It's a long read, but provides extensive background on the US government's kill list development, implementation, and complications in trying to do anything about it.]


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  • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday July 21 2018, @06:27PM (2 children)

    by mhajicek (51) on Saturday July 21 2018, @06:27PM (#710521)

    The Constitution, which must include a clear and unambiguous right of the people to be armed, to use encryption, and to be free from unwarranted search and tracking, must have teeth. There must be real and significant punishments for those who act or legislate against it.

    --
    The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Saturday July 21 2018, @07:16PM (1 child)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday July 21 2018, @07:16PM (#710543) Journal

    Noted.

    Here's a handful of other good ideas I've gleaned from others in the last decade:

    There should be a limit to how long anyone can work for government. 6-8 years feels about right. Long enough to learn the ropes, put in good, effective work, and mentor new-comers.

    Government alumni are forbidden from working for any industry which fell under their regulatory purview, for a period of 15 years.

    Washington, D.C., must be shut down. Government agencies must be distributed around the country. Careful consideration must be given to where agencies are relocated. Dept. of Agriculture would logically belong somewhere in the American Bottom. Dept. of the Interior would work well either somewhere on the Front Range or the Upper South. Dept. of Labor would make sense somewhere in the Rust Belt. Treasury, Commerce, SEC, and those must be put somewhere where the people have some damn sense, like Wyoming or Utah; they cannot be anywhere the schmucks they're regulating in New York or Chicago.

    Politicians, as with other government employees, cannot serve longer than 8 years. No more career politicians.

    Penalties for corruption in public servants must require supermax prison, with no possibility of parole. Corruption that results in deaths of, or significant harm to, citizens (like allowing lead poisoning in Flint, MI), must carry the death penalty; Penalty to be carried out in a suitable public square.

    Government must mandate FLOSS in its own departments and with contractors that perform work for the government. Metrics, including cost, invoices, and all other relevant aspects of work, including clearance in the social graph to ensure there are no sweetheart deals, must be made available immediately in a central, universally accessible site, free of charge.

    Companies found guilty of malfeasance, collusion, or other crimes shall be subjected to a corporate death penalty, with all assets seized to compensate victims, and officers of the corporation held personally liable for the decisions they make.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.