Archiv: state self-empowerment / legal interpretations („preemptive“ / „potential“ / „imminent danger“ / „national security“ / blah blah blah)

12.02.2026 - 23:55 [ Courthouse News Service ]

House Democrats demand DHS scrap memo allowing warrantless entry of homes

(February 3, 2026)

House Democrats on Monday demanded the Department of Homeland Security rescind a controversial directive allowing federal immigration agents to forcibly enter people’s homes without a signed warrant from a judge, following the leak of a memorandum detailing the agency’s broad assertion of law enforcement authority.

Lawmakers say the memo took “a battering ram” to the Constitution and the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable search and seizure — and pushed back on the Trump administration’s claims that non-U.S. citizens are not subject to those rights.

12.02.2026 - 23:47 [ PBS.org ]

WATCH: Schumer speaks after Democrats vote against DHS funding bill, making shutdown likely

In a list of demands they sent to the White House last week, Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said DHS officers should not be able to enter private property without a judicial warrant and that warrant procedures and standards should be improved. They have said they want an end to „roving patrols“ of agents who are targeting people in the streets and in their homes.

12.02.2026 - 23:42 [ theHill.com ]

DHS shutdown imminent after Senate Democrats block Homeland Security bill

“Democrats have been very clear. We will not support an extension of the status quo, a status quo that permits masked secret police to barge into people’s homes without warrants, no guardrails, zero oversight from independent authorities,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said before the vote.

10.02.2026 - 18:08 [ New York Times ]

We Were Top Homeland Security Lawyers. You Can’t Wish Away the Fourth Amendment.

(February 2, 2026)

A warrant signed by a judge who is independent of the executive branch is a constitutional safeguard that separates legitimate law enforcement from arbitrary government power. This bedrock principle applies with equal — if not greater — force when the government is merely enforcing a civil immigration order.

Today the Department of Homeland Security seeks to justify forcible home entries on the basis of administrative warrants — warrants issued by the executive, not the judicial branch.

10.02.2026 - 17:53 [ Texas Public Radio ]

DHS defends ICE actions after San Antonio home arrest attempt sparks backlash

(February 8, 2026)

The agency did not specify what type of warrant officers were carrying. Judicial warrants are approved by judges, while administrative warrants are issued by immigration authorities; civil rights advocates note that administrative warrants generally do not permit officers to enter a home without consent or emergency conditions.

04.02.2026 - 22:18 [ ABC News ]

UK will release files related to Mandelson‘s appointment in more Epstein fallout

The move came after the opposition Conservative Party said it would force a vote in Parliament on Wednesday calling for the release of emails and other messages related to Mandelson’s appointment in 2024. Critics say he should never have been given the job because his relationship with Epstein – though not its extent – was known at the time.

The government has agreed to release the requested information unless it is ”prejudicial to U.K. national security or international relations.” It’s unclear how much material will be released, or when.

01.02.2026 - 16:36 [ Common Dreams ]

Leaked DHS Memo Reveals ICE Claiming Expansive New Warrantless Arrest Powers

Stanford University political scientist Tom Clark questioned the validity of the memo, which appears to directly conflict with the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, which requires search warrants as a protection against “unreasonable searches and seizures.”

“So, here’s how the law works,” he wrote. “People on whom it imposes constraints don’t get to just write themselves a memo saying they don’t have to follow the law. Maybe I’ll write myself a memo saying that I don’t have to pay my taxes this year.”

24.01.2026 - 15:07 [ LawDork.com ]

ICE‘s Fourth Amendment-free search policy, Minnesota church protest charges, and more

Although we haven’t seen that DHS Office of the General Counsel determination, DHS’s acting general counsel at the time was Joseph Mazzara.

Mazzara was most recently in the news for acknowledging that he was the person who gave DHS Secretary Kristi Noem legal advice about whether or not to turn around the Alien Enemies Act flights the night of March 15 after Chief Judge James Boasberg ordered the administration to do so. (They did not turn the flights around.)

Sometime less than two months later, per Lyons, Mazzara’s office took on the Fourth Amendment as well.

24.01.2026 - 14:51 [ CNN ]

ICE officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, memo says

Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press, marking a sharp reversal of longstanding guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on government searches.

21.12.2025 - 15:54 [ Kaitlan Collins / X ]

Months ago, Annie Farmer reminded us how her sister Maria filed a complaint with the FBI in 1996 — and never heard back.

She argued more girls were harmed „that didn‘t need to be“ because of FBI inaction. Farmer had told the FBI that Epstein, who assaulted Maria, a figurative artist, and Ghislaine Maxwell had stolen photos of her younger sisters. Today‘s release confirms her complaint.

21.12.2025 - 15:50 [ New York Times ]

Epstein Files Include 1996 Child Porn Complaint That F.B.I. Ignored

(December 19, 2025)

The woman, Maria Farmer, has for years said that she had called federal investigators in the summer of 1996, but the F.B.I. had never publicly acknowledged her original report, even to Ms. Farmer. Some people following the Epstein case had accused her of inventing the story. After the release of thousands of Epstein files on Friday, The New York Times contacted Ms. Farmer about a report stamped with the date of Sept. 3, 1996. She broke down in tears.

“I’ve waited 30 years,” she said. “I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”

20.12.2025 - 07:44 [ Ken Klippenstein ]

“National Security” Blocks Epstein Files Release

(November 18, 2025)

The truth is that the rich and powerful (including the FBI) are ultimately going to be protected from those who are clamoring for change. They aren’t hiding behind national security. They are national security.

(…)

Though the 50-year-old Freedom of Information Act states that the federal government can’t withhold data from the public merely because it is embarrassing, in a 2021 lawsuit still pending where attorney Dan Novack sued for Epstein records, the FBI rattled off a long list of information it says it has but cannot disclose. That includes:

“Names, Identifying Data and/or Information Provided by Individuals Under an Implied Assurance of Confidentiality”

“Names, Identifying Data and/or Information Provided by Individuals Under an Express Assurance of Confidentiality”

“Names and/or Identifying Information of Third Parties who Provided Information”

“Names and/or Identifying Information of Third Parties of Investigative Interest”

“Names and/or Identifying Information of FBI Special Agents”

“Foreign Government Agency Information Under Implied Confidentiality”

“Dates/Types of Investigations”

“Collection/Analysis of Information”

“Names and/or Identifying Information of Non-FBI Federal Government Personnel

“Name and/or Identifying Information of Local Government Personnel”

“Information Regarding Targets, Dates, and Scope of Surveillance”

20.12.2025 - 06:50 [ CNN ]

DOJ withheld more Epstein files in first batch than law requires

In a letter to Congress Friday describing the release, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the Justice Department believes it can black out information, even when it falls outside of the legally mandated redactions for protecting victims, showing gruesome injury or abuse, exposing personal information, or jeopardizing ongoing investigations and national security.

06.07.2025 - 05:36 [ Commissioner of Human Rights / Council of Europe ]

The Commissioner asks the German authorities to uphold freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in the context of the conflict in Gaza

(June 19, 2025)

In a letter addressed to the Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany published today, Commissioner O’Flaherty raises concerns about restrictions to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly of persons protesting in the context of the conflict in Gaza, as well as about reports of excessive use of force by police against protesters, including children.

Commissioner O’Flaherty also observes restrictions on events, symbols, or other forms of expression in this context. He recalls that member states have little scope to impose restrictions on political speech or on debate on matters of public interest, in line with the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe standards on freedom of expression, hate speech and hate crime. He urges the German authorities to be vigilant that the working definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is not distorted, instrumentalised or misapplied to stifle freedom of expression and legitimate criticism, including of the state of Israel.

Recalling that member states have legal obligations to refrain from undue interference with human rights and to ensure the effective enjoyment of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly for all, the Commissioner asks the German authorities to avoid taking measures that discriminate against persons based on their political or other opinions, religion or belief, ethnic origin, nationality or migration status.

30.06.2025 - 22:36 [ Commissioner of Human Rights / Council of Europe ]

Mr. Alexander DOBRINDT Federal Minister of the Interior: Dear Minister ….

(June 6, 2025)

It is my understanding that since February 2025, the Berlin authorities have imposed restrictions on the use of the Arabic language and cultural symbols in the context of the protests. In some cases, such as an assembly in Berlin on 15 May 2025, marches have been restricted to stationary gatherings. Furthermore, protestors were allegedly subject to intrusive surveillance, online or in person, and arbitrary police checks. I am also concerned by reports of excessive use of force by police against protesters, including minors, sometimes leading to injuries.

(…)

I understand that restrictions have been justified on the basis that events, symbols, or other forms of expression “disrupt public order” or “disturb public peace”. The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights’ (the Court) establishes that freedom of expression “applies not only to ‘information’ and ‘ideas’ that are favourably received, regarded as inoffensive, or which leave one indifferent […] – it implies pluralism, tolerance and openness, without which there is no ‘democratic society’”. In assessing the necessity of the interference, member states have little scope to impose restrictions on political speech or on debate on matters of public interest, unless the views expressed comprise incitements to violence, and must always carry out such an assessment case by case.

I observe that other justifications invoked for the restrictions on rights include the prevention of antisemitism. I note with concern reports indicating that the working definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) has been interpreted by some German authorities in ways which lead to the blanket classification of criticism of Israel as antisemitic. In that regard, I urge you to be vigilant that the IHRA working definition is not distorted, instrumentalised or misapplied to stifle freedom of expression and legitimate criticism, including of the state of Israel

30.06.2025 - 22:05 [ Commissioner of Human Rights / Council of Europe ]