The UTEP team found that an average of 66 children were being picked up at the border each day. Thirty Border Patrol agents were required to transport the children from Fort Brown to other locations where they could be fed and cleaned. All told, 24,000 unaccompanied minors were processed by Border Patrol stations in Texas last year, making it clear that the federal government had a brewing crisis on its hands.   read more

“When I found out that the NSA was collecting records of my phone calls, I was shocked,” Smith said in a prepared statement. “I have heard of other governments spying indiscriminately on their own citizens, but I naively thought it did not happen in America. I believe who I call, when I call them, and how long we talk is not something the government should be able to get without a warrant. I sued because I believe the Constitution protects my calls from government searches."   read more

The granddaddy of spying authorizations goes back to the Reagan Administration, and even Congress doesn’t know much about how it works. So, what’s 12333 being used for? According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, its authority is used to cull American’s electronic address books and buddy lists, to put malware on Facebook servers and to justify the recording of all of a country’s telephone calls.   read more

ADX inmates endure 23 hours a day and sometimes more in their tiny, private cells. The one hour they’re not in solitary confinement is instead spent outside—in an exercise cage often with no one else around. Many ADX inmates suffer from mental illness, but are denied treatment such as medicine and counseling, according to the report. In addition, the prison operates with virtually no public oversight. The media cannot visit prisoners in person nor talk to them by phone.   read more

The recent recall and controversy surrounding General Motors is one prime example, bill supporters say. Some GM officials knew about their cars’ faulty ignition switches as early as 2001, and yet allowed them to be sold and driven for years after. At least 13 people may have died as a result of these decisions. So far, the worst that the federal government has thrown at GM for its negligence is $35 million in fines, with no managers or executives facing prosecution.   read more