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Fiona Tang writes in ACLU FOIA Seeks Information About How Government Launders Evidence:
Today the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking records related to "parallel construction," the government's practice of falsifying a trail of evidence in order to conceal controversial investigative techniques from the courts and the public.
Under parallel construction, instead of disclosing how its investigation actually took place, the government presents a sanitized version of events. The practice allows the government to evade legal challenges to the use of such techniques, and also to keep the very existence of such techniques a secret. Recent news reports have shown that parallel construction might be far more common than we'd like to think, so we've asked the government to provide any records it has documenting the practice.
... parallel construction has been used to cover up some of the most notorious surveillance techniques in the past decade. It initially captured the public's attention in August 2013, when Reuters published an article scrutinizing the elusive Drug Enforcement Administration Special Operations Division's use of the practice. Parallel construction received renewed attention this past May, when a non-disclosure agreement between the FBI and the Oklahoma City Police Department was released through a state records request. The non-disclosure agreement governs the use of cell site simulators—colloquially known as "stingrays"—and requires that the Oklahoma City Police Department use the technology for "lead purposes only," further explaining that the agency must "use additional and independent investigative means and methods . . . that would be admissible at trial" in lieu of disclosing to the defendant the fact that a stingray device was used.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday July 19 2016, @10:50PM
I'm having flashbacks of pretty much every election. The candidate for [Party I Like] may be an evil, corrupt scumbag, but the candidate for [Party I Don't Like] is even worse! Then these gullible, shortsighted morons try to convince everyone who refuses to play this obviously ridiculous game that they should vote for Democrats or Republicans, and that not voting for the candidate they hate less is like voting for the candidate they really, really hate. This sometimes leads to people who don't vote or people who vote third party being accused of somehow aiding both mainstream candidates simultaneously. That should show how broken the logic being used is, but the partisan idiots are mostly too stupid to realize it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 19 2016, @11:44PM
I heard third parties are evil because Jill will appoint a treasonous traitor to her cabinet and let the terrists win.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 20 2016, @07:17AM
> will appoint a treasonous traitor to her cabinet and let the terrists win
It's not going to get worse that it already is then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 20 2016, @07:56PM
I met a really awesome girl the other day, but she's 100 percent backing Hillary because 'Trump will be worse.' Without a full understand of the issues Hillary will cause due to her platform (among other things supporting 'backdoored encrypted' and 'enhanced electronic surveillance', along with pushing forward further copyright and criminal laws beneficial to the RIAA/MPAA and few others.)
*THIS* is why we need a shakeup in the US political system, and if there isn't going to be a shakeup, then it is why likeminded individuals need to band together in meatspace, and either politically/economically take over a county/state, or mass emigrate from the US to do the same somewhere else. With 330 million people, our chances of changing the tide of US politics is most likely futile. If the internet and the laws of the last 20 years haven't managed to upset the general public enough to 'rebel' against the duopoly, nothing will.... at least until they are all out of work or so indebted to their corporate masters that all chance at free will has been taken from them. And by then it will be far too late.