The government must turn over portions of its terrorist watch list after a federal district court rejected the government’s claim of state secrets privilege in a class action lawsuit filed to get access to the list.
Israel’s Supreme Court demands that the government stop profiling Arab citizens going through airport security. Read the case background from an Israeli civil rights group.
A panel of physicians has issued guidelines on which high-risk patients to deny medical care to in the event of a public-health emergency, such as pandemic flu.
Interested in a thorough malware check of your system? The Web site Virustotal.com lets you upload any file, up to 10 megabytes in size, and have it scanned by 29 antivirus programs.
Need to conduct risk assessments? Link to these resources, which include an effort by the Security Analysis and Risk Management Association to formulate a common professional lexicon based on a wiki-software approach and ASIS International’s risk guideline, laying out a seven-step method for identifying threats and neutralizing them.
As supply chains expand in size and complexity due to globalization, criminals have an easier time defrauding businesses, says a new report from Kroll.
IT security budgets are holding fast, with 81 percent of top IT executives saying they do not expect budgetary decreases in 2008. Link to the survey here.
A security guard company that reported an incident based on information from a private citizen is not liable for the arrest of innocent parties. In the case, police arrested three people after a mall patron reported a crime to a security officer, who, in turn, notified police.
The ACLU slams the federal government for pursuing a "law enforcement and national security" approach to the threat of pandemic influenza, rather than a public health approach.
European security experts Gijs de Vries and Fernando Reinares told attendees at the ASIS International’s European conference that the next U.S. administration will revert to a less militarized approach to combating terrorism. Read a paper by Reinares on international terrorism and public opinion here.
A bill (H.R. 493) that would prohibit discrimination based on genetic information has been signed into law (P.L. 110-233) by the President. The law expands the prohibition against genetic discrimination by group health plans and health insurance providers.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a bill (S. 2533) that would require the Executive Branch to obtain court approval from a federal court each time it invokes the state secrets privilege in a civil action as a way to prevent information from being released. Under the bill, the Executive Branch would also be required to provide a report to Congress on each item within 30 days of invoking the privilege. The full Senate has not announced whether it will take up the measure.
The House Judiciary Committee has approved a bill (H.R. 4279) introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) that would increase penalties for theft of intellectual property. The bill would enhance criminal penalties for dealing in counterfeit labels or packaging. It would also enhance penalties for causing serious bodily harm or death while dealing in counterfeit goods or services.
A new West Virginia law (formerly S.B. 185) makes it illegal for people with certain mental conditions to possess firearms. Included in these mental conditions are alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and those who have voluntarily been committed to a mental institution. (Prior to the law, only those involuntarily committed to a mental institution were prohibited from possessing a firearm.)
A bill (S.B. 132) pending in the New Mexico legislature would make it illegal for a public employer to retaliate against an employee who discloses or threatens to disclose an unlawful act committed by that employer. The bill would also outlaw retaliation against any employee who testifies as part of an investigation or hearing or who refuses to participate in an unlawful or improper act. The bill would also allow employees to sue for civil damages in such cases.
An Illinois appellate court has ruled that the parents of a child molested by her school bus driver can proceed with her lawsuit against the school. The school argued that it was not a common carrier and could not, therefore, be held liable for Green’s claims of negligent hiring, assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Under state law common carriers are liable for the wrongdoing of employees regardless of whether that employee was acting within the scope of employment.) The court ruled that the school was not a common carrier but, because of the special nature of its relationship to students, it owed an even higher duty of care to the plaintiff’s daughter.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christine Todd Whitman, cannot be held liable for announcing that the air around the fallen Twin Towers was safe after the 9-11 attacks. Whitman made the claims on behalf of the White House even though scientific reports showed that the air quality could be hazardous. The court ruled that, despite this evidence, holding government officials liable would be dangerous because it might make public officials hesitant about making such announcements in the future. A lower court had refused to dismiss the case, ruling that Whitman’s statements were “conscience-shocking.”
In a settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a company that fuels planes at airports has agreed to pay $1.9 million to black and Hispanic employees who claim they were discriminated against. Though the company admitted no wrongdoing, it also agreed to conduct sensitivity and diversity training as part of the agreement. According to the EEOC, company employees waved KKK membership cards at black and Hispanic employees. Also, nooses and drawings of swastikas were common, and Hispanic employees were forced to ride in the back of shuttle buses. One employee, Francisco Ochoa, went to his manager to complain about the discrimination. Ochoa saw himself drawn in a racially offensive cartoon that had been placed under glass on the manager’s desk.
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