In a challenge to the constitutionality of the National Security Agency’s phone records surveillance program, President Barack Obama’s administration claims whether Verizon Wireless participated in the program is a state secret. This is remarkable given there is irrefutable evidence from government documents of Verizon Wireless’ involvement in a similar challenge to this program.

Formerly incarcerated youth in Cook County, Chicago, were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders at a rate higher than that of the general population, according to new research. The research also found Black former juvenile inmates had lower prevalence rates for psychiatric and substance abuse disorders over time than compared to whites and Hispanics, despite the fact that they constitute a disproportionately larger segment of the incarcerated population.

What gave rise to ISIS and how is the group holding onto power? To answer these questions, journalist, activist and political commentator Phyllis Bennis connects the dots between the fall of Iraq, the U.S. “War on Terror,” and oil.

The following letter was mailed today to the Treasury Department’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) division. It is a response to a two year old FOIA request that asked for records concerning former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s communications during a period that included the AIG bailout. The Treasury Department claimed, amazingly, that no official records could be found and gave me 35 days to appeal the no records response.

The United States could be fighting in dozens of conflicts around the world or none at all, depending on how one defines “war” or “conflict.” And despite repeated failures of U.S. military intervention to create global stability, American troops continue to be sent into more nations and more battles, usually without congressional approval.

Attorneys for a gravely sick Guantanamo Bay prisoner, who has been on hunger strike for eight and a half years, argue the United States government has “attacked” a federal court’s “Constitutional authority” by claiming “unchecked power” to continue detention and force-feeding. Tariq Ba Odah, a Yemeni prisoner and resident of

According to a federal class action lawsuit filed in Alabama this month, the city of Alexander is incarcerating people who are unable to pay court fees and fines in a modern-day debtors prison. The suit argues the practice not only constitutes false imprisonment, but also violates inmates’ Fourth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the Constitution.