New Nationwide Campaign Seeks to Stop Warrantless Use of License Plate Reader Cameras
IJ has launched a nationwide campaign to push back against the arbitrary and unrestrained use of automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras in thousands of American communities. The Plate Privacy Project will combine IJ’s litigation, legislation, activism, and media capabilities in the fight against warrantless mass surveillance. Thousands of communities around the United States have partnered with private companies to install ALPR cameras on their roads. There have been reports of police using these cameras to stalk ex-girlfriends, improperly sharing data with federal agencies, and providing bogus reasons for searching databases.
To combat these abuses, the Plate Privacy Project will propose model legislation in state legislatures to protect against warrantless ALPR surveillance, partner with local grassroots activists to help them resist the use of these cameras in their communities, and continue fighting in the courts to strengthen the Fourth Amendment’s protections against this new form of warrantless surveillance.
Innocent Property Owner Asks Supreme Court to Hear Case Challenging New York City’s ‘Unreviewable’ Code Fines
Serafim Katergaris bought a home in Harlem in 2014. A title report confirmed the property was free and clear of any encumbrances. It was not until seven years later, when he went to sell the property, that he first learned that the city had fined him $1,000 way back in 2014, over a boiler that was removed form the house before he even bought it. Serafim never got a notice about the fine, but the city said it sent one, and an appeals court said the city's claim is good enough. Now, IJ and Serafim are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revive his lawsuit challenging New York City’s system of issuing unreviewable fines for code violations.
Albuquerque Bookstore Owner Partners with IJ to Defend Right to Provide Safe, Private Shelter
Gil Kerley, owner of Quirky Used Books & More in Albuquerque, New Mexico, sought to address the city’s worsening homelessness crisis by providing a safe and private space for homeless people to sleep on his own property. Recognizing that many homeless people were left with nowhere else to turn, Gil allowed a few of them to set up tents in his bookstore’s parking lot, offering a stable environment free from the risk of arrest or loss of belongings. Gil viewed this compassionate act as a practical, private response to an urgent public issue that the city had struggled to resolve effectively. But Albuquerque, which has made sleeping in public illegal, won't let people sleep on Gil's land either, leaving homeless people with virtually no lawful options for shelter.
First, we look at how “homely” a home needs to be to be a home. Them, we discuss a case about what rights someone has when they’re in prison and might have a path out of there.
Did you know the feds can send a subpoena to social media companies to find out stuff about your accounts and also order the same companies not to tell you? Turns out it happens all the time. But the law says that a court has to make an individualized assessment of each request.
Your tax-deductible contribution helps IJ fight for Americans’ rights. IJ defends ordinary people who want to pursue their vision of the American Dream but find that the government is standing in their way. We stand with our clients no matter how long their cases take, and we win nearly 75% of the time.
