US Law Archives - Page 11 of 71

“Facebook Law” Bans Student-Teacher Social Media Interaction

ABA Journal: A new Missouri law set to take effect later this month is aimed at more clearly defining teacher-student boundaries.

But critics say portions of Senate Bill 54, also known as the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act, go too far in limiting social media contact between teachers and their students.

Even though it’s being referred to as the “Facebook law,” the law’s scope goes well beyond a single popular social network and instead covers any contact teachers would have with students via social media, according to reports in MSNBC’s Digital Life and KSPR ABC Channel 33.

Congress Wants To Spy On Your Computer

NY Post: If Congress had to name laws honestly, it would be called the “Forcing Your Internet Provider to Spy On You Just In Case You’re a Criminal Act of 2011” — a costly, invasive mandate that even the co-author of the Patriot Act, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), says “runs roughshod over the rights of people who use the Internet.”

But because it’s disguised as the “Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act,” the House Judiciary Committee approved it last week by a wide margin — even though it’s got little to do with child porn and won’t do much to protect kids.

The centerpiece of this ill-conceived law is a sweeping requirement that commercial Internet providers retain a one-year log of all the temporary Internet Protocol addresses they assign to their users, along with customer-identification information. The Justice Department says this will help track down child-porn peddlers by linking online activity and real-world identities. But the government would be able to access that sensitive data for all kinds of investigations, most of which would have nothing to do with child porn.

Expect To Give A DNA Sample If You Get Arrested By The Feds

ABA Journal: An en banc federal appeals court has upheld a law authorizing the collection of DNA samples from all federal arrestees.

In an 8-6 decision, the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that routinely collecting DNA samples from arrestees for a national database does not violate the Fourth Amendment. The Legal Intelligencer covered the decision (PDF).

“DNA profiling is simply a more precise method of ascertaining identity and is thus akin to fingerprinting, which has long been accepted as part of routine booking procedures,” the majority opinion said.

Mortgage Assignments Must Now Be Filed With County Before Foreclosure

ABA Journal: Calling for an end to a controversial practice, the Virginia-based company that owns Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) has announced a change in its rules that apparently would require mortgage loan services to follow longstanding property law principles.

They are no longer to file foreclosure actions in the name of MERS, a subsidiary of Merscorp Inc. of Reston, Va., and are to obtain and record mortgage assignments with county clerks before suing, reports Reuters.

Too Many Federal Criminal Statutes To Count

ABA Journal: Federal criminal statutes have multiplied to such an extent that it has become increasingly difficult to count them.

As a result of the increase, federal prisons now house more than 200,000 inmates, eight times the number 30 years ago, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. And more people are in criminal jeopardy, often unwittingly, since increasingly the new laws do not have an intent requirement.

A U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman tells the Wall Street Journal that the number of federal criminal laws can’t be quantified. Studies have put the number at more than 3,000 and at 4,500.