News & Commentary

Professor Xiaoxing Xi is a Chinese American scientist whom the U.S. government wrongly accused of unlawfully sharing sensitive technology with scientists in China. After the Justice Department dismissed its baseless indictment, Professor Xi brought suit against the government, seeking accountability for the FBI’s wrongful arrest of him, its surveillance methods, and its discriminatory targeting of Chinese Americans. Yesterday, a federal district court compounded the harms Professor Xi has suffered by dismissing nearly all of his legal claims. F

An extensive hacking campaign, purportedly conducted by Russian hackers, has infected the computer systems of numerous U.S. government agencies, critical infrastructure companies, and other businesses that were running an insecure version of network management software distributed by the SolarWinds company. The widespread hack went undetected for months. Predictably, in response to the hack, current and former government officials are putting out feelers to gauge public receptivity to a favorite, all-purpose, government go-to proposal: more surveillance. T

After the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, calls for new domestic terrorism laws grew louder. Proponents of the laws argue they’ll provide law enforcement with more resources to go after white supremacists and stop the violence. Now, with the country reeling from a recent spike in mass shootings, the calls continue.

Medical experts agree: Gender-affirming care is medically necessary care that can be life-saving for transgender youth. Medical decisions belong to trans youth, their parents, and their doctors. Yet politicians are trying come between trans youth and the care they need. In 2020, 15 states introduced legislation that would ban — and in some instances criminalize — access to health care for transgender youth. The Arkansas legislature passed such a bill into law on March 29 and 16 other states introduced similar legislation this year.

Like so many Asian Americans, I was shattered by the shooting rampage that killed six Asian women and two other people on March 17. Grief turned to rage when Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Captain Jay Baker announced, “The suspect did take responsibility for the shootings … but he does claim that it was not racially motivated.” T

With COVID-19 vaccination rates accelerating, governments around the world have begun to consider implementing a standardized credential or “vaccine passport” that would let people prove that they’ve been vaccinated. And the idea became more real when the Washington Post reported on Sunday that the Biden administration was working with companies to develop such a structure. O

Student loan debt burdens more than 44 million Americans, and prevents millions from buying homes, starting businesses, saving for retirement, or even starting families. This debt is disproportionately affecting Black families, and Black women in particular.  

This week on At Liberty, we’re rounding out our Women’s History Month series with writer and artist Chanel Miller. Miller jumped into the spotlight back in 2015. First known to the public as “Emily Doe,” Miller’s victim impact statement from the sentencing hearing of Brock Turner, who sexually assaulted her on Stanford University’s campus, went viral. The statement she wrote helped spark the #MeToo movement, but her name was nowhere to be found. I

The U.S. government is embarking on an all-out sprint to develop and deploy artificial intelligence in the name of national security, but its plans for protecting civil rights and civil liberties have barely taken shape. Based on a sweeping new report by a congressionally-mandated commission, it’s clear that U.S. intelligence agencies and the military are seeking to integrate AI into some of the government’s most profound decisions: who it surveils, who it adds to government watchlists, who it labels a “risk” to national security, and even who it targets using lethal weapons. I