signs of the times

[nibot]

Secret arrests after 9/11 will stay secret - The Supreme Court Monday refused to hear an appeal by civil liberties groups seeking access to basic data about hundreds of individuals detained by the federal government after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The decision allows the government to continue withholding the names of most detainees, as well as other information related to their arrests, indefinitely. — mh

Court Upholds Police Use of Roadblocks to Seek Witnesses - The Supreme Court ruled today, in an Illinois case of deep concern to law enforcement agencies across the country, that the police may set up roadblocks to look for witnesses to crimes. The 6-to-3 decision upheld the use of "informational checkpoints," declaring that they were not necessarily violations of the Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. — nyt