ACLU’s Jameel Jaffer to direct Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger today announced his appointment of Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director at the ACLU, as founding director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Last month, Columbia and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the creation of the new institute which will work-through litigation, research and public advocacy-to preserve and expand the freedoms of expression and the press in the digital age.

The Latest: Some Texas abortion clinics likely won’t reopen

Amy Hagstrom Miller, second from right, founder of Whole Woman's Health, a Texas women's health clinic that provides abortions, leaves the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, June 27, 2016, with Center for Reproductive Rights President Nancy Northup, far right, as the justices struck down the strict Texas anti-abortion restriction law known as HB2. The justices voted 5-3 in favor of Texas clinics that had argued the regulations were a thinly veiled attempt to make it harder for women to get an abortion in the nation's second-most populous state.

Source: Delayed Texas Abortion Data Finished Months Ago

Lauren Baker of Plano and Mary Baumgard of Minnesota held signs in front of the U.S. Supreme Court March 2, 2016, as the court arguments in a case on a Texas abortion law. The process of compiling much-anticipated Texas abortion statistics for 2014 - expected to reflect the impact of abortion restrictions passed by the 2013 legislature - followed its normal course up until February of this year, a health agency insider says.

10th Circuit: Kansas can’t block voters from casting ballots

Kansas cannot prevent thousands of eligible voters from casting ballots in the November federal election because they didn't prove they were U.S. citizens when registering to vote at motor vehicle offices, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling temporarily upholds a court order that required Kansas to allow those individuals to vote in federal elections even though they didn't provide citizenship documentation when applying or renewing their driver's licenses, as required under Kansas law.

Civil Rights Groups Ask Appeals Court to Block Judge’s Immigration Order

Group gathered from all around Texas and marched to the Governor's Mansion to show their support fro DACA and DAPA A coalition of civil and immigrant rights groups on Friday asked an appeals court to stop a federal judge's order that requires the Obama administration to turn over the confidential information of thousands of undocumented immigrants. by the National Immigration Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants' Rights Project and the ACLU of Texas is on behalf of four undocumented immigrants, including two Texans.

Privacy Takes Major Hit as Court Rules No Warrant Needed for Cell Location Data

"The Fourth Circuit took the third party doctrine further than any case we've seen so far," wrote the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In a major setback for privacy advocates, a U.S. appeals court on Tuesday ruled that cellphone location data is not protected by the Fourth Amendment and can be collected without a warrant.

Another bathroom lawsuit filed; is Arkansas in it?

Led by Texas, 11 states have sued the federal government in Texas over President Obama's reminder that the law says transgender students are protected by non-discrimination law, including in using bathrooms aligned with their gender. Early coverage doesn't answer these questions that come immediately to mind: 1) What is the cause of legal action against a reminder of the law ? As yet, the government hasn't cut off money to any school that discriminates against transgender students.

Document sheds light on how president approves drone strikes

President Barack Obama must approve operational plans to target overseas terror suspects with drones or other weapons outside war zones, but in some cases does not sign off on specific strikes, according to newly-declassified administration guidelines. In addition to setting out the role of the president, the guidelines emphasize the importance of "verifying" the identity of high value targets, even as they outline the criteria and legality of striking unidentified others when "necessary to achieve U.S. policy objectives."