Colleen Walsh, Harvard Law Today; Holding the past accountable by making it visible

Harvard Law School Library’s Paul Deschner discusses the decades-long effort to make the full archive of Nuremberg Trials records available online

"“The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored.” So said United States Supreme Court Justice and U.S. Chief of Counsel to the International Military Tribunal, Robert H. Jackson, during his opening statement for the prosecution at the first of 13 Nuremberg Trials, which began 80 years ago, on Nov. 20, 1945.

For decades, the Harvard Law School Library has been working to make the nearly complete set of Nuremberg Trials records publicly available online. It launched the first version of Harvard’s Nuremberg Trials Project website in 2003, but until recently only roughly 20 percent of the Law School’s trove of Nuremberg materials had been accessible to online visitors. Today, the full collection of 140,000 documents comprising more than 700,000 pages is live and searchable by anyone around the globe.

Harvard Law School Library’s Paul Deschner, who has helped guide the project almost since its inception, spoke with Harvard Law Today about the scope of the archive and what it took to bring the entire collection online."

Congress to send bill to Trump to force disclosure of Jeffrey Epstein files; The Washington Post, November 18, 2025

Kadia Goba

, 

Amy B Wang

 and 

Theodoric Meyer

, The Washington Post; Congress to send bill to Trump to force disclosure of Jeffrey Epstein files

"Congress was poised Tuesday to send a bill to President Donald Trump to force the Justice Department to release files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, overcoming a months-long impasse in the House and quickly dispatching with the issue in the Senate.

Hours after the bill passed the House on a 427-1 vote, the Senate agreed to deem the legislation passed as soon as it arrives from the House. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) offered a motion that received unanimous consent and will require no further action by the chamber."

Trump Ramps Up Pressure on G.O.P. to Thwart Epstein Vote; The New York Times, November 12, 2025

Annie Karni and Devlin Barrett, The New York Times ; Trump Ramps Up Pressure on G.O.P. to Thwart Epstein Vote

[Kip Currier: What and who is in the Epstein files that the Trump administration doesn't want us to see?

Why are Trump 2.0 and the GOP desperate to impede the release of the Epstein files?

What do they fear will be revealed?

What do they think the consequences may be if the American people finally know the contents of these documents?

Does this look like normal behavior if there really is "nothing to see" in these files?

If someone in your own personal or professional life were engaging in these kinds of tactics to hide records would it raise your suspicions?

What can and will be done to attain transparency of these records?]

[Excerpt]

"President Trump and his administration on Wednesday ramped up a pressure campaign on congressional Republicans who are pushing for a full release of the Justice Department’s files about the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, rushing to head off a House vote on the matter."

To Preserve Records, Homeland Security Now Relies on Officials to Take Screenshots; The New York Times, November 6, 2025

Minho Kim , The New York Times; To Preserve Records, Homeland Security Now Relies on Officials to Take Screenshots

[Kip Currier: This new discretionary DHS records policy is counter to sound ethics practices and democracy-centered values.

Preservation of records promotes transparency, the historical record, accountability, access to information, informed citizenries, the right to petition one's government, free and independent presses, and more. The new DHS records policy undermines all of the above.]

[Excerpt]

"The Department of Homeland Security has stopped using software that automatically captured text messages and saved trails of communication between officials, according to sworn court statements filed this week.

Instead, the agency began in April to require officials to manually take screenshots of their messages to comply with federal records laws, citing cybersecurity concerns with the autosave software.

Public records experts say the new record-keeping policy opens ample room for both willful and unwitting noncompliance with federal open records laws in an administration that has already shown a lack of interest in, or willingness to skirt, records laws. That development could be particularly troubling as the department executes President Trump’s aggressive agenda of mass deportations, a campaign that has included numerous accusations of misconduct by law enforcement officials, the experts said.

“If you are an immigration official or an agent and believe that the public might later criticize you, or that your records could help you be held accountable, would you go out of the way to preserve those records that might expose wrongdoing?” said Lauren Harper, who advocates government transparency at the Freedom of the Press Foundation."

Employee of Trump-Supporting Superstore Fired for Filming Brutal Immigration Raid; The Daily Beast, November 3, 2025

Tom Latchem , The Daily Beast; Employee of Trump-Supporting Superstore Fired for Filming Brutal Immigration Raid

[Kip Currier: The excessive force and brutality of these raids cannot and should not be normalized. This is not normal or desirable conduct by law enforcement in a democracy.

Boycotts are one of the best ways to send messages to billionaires -- like John Menard, Jr. -- that this kind of brutal action against human beings who are deserving of dignity and due process will not be tolerated by a majority of the citizens of this country. Targeted boycotts of Teslas sent a message to Elon Musk and these types of peaceful citizen responses can be used to hold other oligarchs accountable for the undemocratic actions that they overtly and tacitly support.

Why are law enforcement persons who use excessive force to apprehend people, who are in most cases not resisting detention, not being held accountable for their unprofessional actions?

Why are they permitted to smash car windows with batons, throw people to the ground, tear gas children's parties, threaten news media and ordinary citizens for permissibly filming public arrests, and even "give the finger" to people who are observing and in some cases documenting their actions?

This is not acceptable in our democracy. These actions by often-masked law enforcement persons are more in keeping with the behaviors of militias and secret police forces who see themselves as not answerable to we the people.

I have hope and faith in the rule of law that the individuals and agencies who are engaging in this conduct can and will be held legally accountable at some point.

We must also continue to call out these lawless actions and not permit ourselves to become inured and voiceless to the brutality that we can see with our own eyes.]

[Excerpt]

"A security guard working at a superstore owned by an ally of Donald Trump was fired after filming a brutal Department of Homeland Security immigration raid in its parking lot.

Ricardo Mendez was positioned at the door of Menards—a Midwestern chain of home-improvement stores whose billionaire owner, John Menard Jr., is a GOP megadonor—in the Chicago suburb of Cicero, Illinois, when agents deployed by DHS arrived on Tuesday afternoon...

What came next was brutal, as the Puerto Rican security guard filmed two Border Patrol agents smashing the window of a white Ford pickup with their batons. 

“The poor guy was surrounded by agents, workers, and customers,” said Mendez, 27, who added that the incident was so dramatic and shocking that other store staff also came out to film."

Here's who owns what when it comes to AI, creativity and intellectual property; World Economic Forum, October 10, 2025

Seemantani Sharma, Co-Founder, Mabill Technologies | Intellectual Property & Innovation Expert, Mabill Technologies, World Economic Forum ; Here's who owns what when it comes to AI, creativity and intellectual property

"Rethinking ownership

The intersection of AI, consciousness and intellectual property requires us to rethink how ownership should evolve. Keeping intellectual property strictly human-centred safeguards accountability, moral agency and the recognition of human creativity. At the same time, acknowledging AI’s expanding role in production may call for new approaches in law. These could take the form of shared ownership models, new categories of liability or entirely new rights frameworks.

For now, the legal balance remains with humans. As long as AI lacks consciousness, it cannot be considered a rights-holder under existing intellectual property theories. Nonetheless, as machine intelligence advances, society faces a pivotal choice. Do we reinforce a human-centred system to protect dignity and creativity or do we adapt the law to reflect emerging realities of collaboration between humans and machines?

This is more than a legal debate. It is a test of how much we value human creativity in an age of intelligent machines. The decisions we take today will shape the future of intellectual property and the meaning of authorship, innovation and human identity itself."

Judge orders feds to dial back aggressive response to journalists, protesters in Chicago area; ABC 7, October 10, 2025

Mark Rivera and Barb Markoff, Christine Tressel and Tom Jones, ABC 7 ; Judge orders feds to dial back aggressive response to journalists, protesters in Chicago area

"A ruling in federal court Thursday restricts the tactics used by the Department of Homeland Security as they engage with protesters, members of the media and the public, the ABC7 I-Team has learned.

The temporary restraining order, or TRO, governs the behavior of federal agents in the entire Northern District, not just at the Broadview ICE processing facility, where there have seen numerous flare ups between ICE agents and the public.

It limits the indiscriminate use of riot control weapons, against peaceful protesters and journalists and requires nearly all federal agents to have visible identification even when wearing riot gear.

Rev. David Black of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago was shot in the head with a pepper bullet while peacefully protesting outside of the facility in Broadview last month by an ice agent standing on the roof of a building. He was able to get up after being hit."

Historian uses AI to help identify Nazi in notorious Holocaust murder image; The Guardian, October 2, 2025

Deborah Cole , The Guardian; Historian uses AI to help identify Nazi in notorious Holocaust murder image

"It is one of the most chilling images of the Holocaust: a bespectacled Nazi soldier trains a pistol at the head of a resigned man kneeling in a suit before a pit full of corpses. German troops encircle the scene.

The picture taken in today’s Ukraine was long known, mistakenly, as The Last Jew in Vinnitsa, and was for decades shrouded in mystery.

The US-based German historian Jürgen Matthäus has for years painstakingly assembled the puzzle pieces and, with the help of artificial intelligence, is confident he has identified the killer."

Pentagon plans widespread random polygraphs, NDAs to stanch leaks; The Washington Post, October 1, 2025

 

Alex Horton

, 

Tara Copp

 and 

Ellen Nakashima

, The Washington Post; Pentagon plans widespread random polygraphs, NDAs to stanch leaks

"The Pentagon plans to impose strict nondisclosure agreements andrandom polygraph testing for scores of people in its headquarters, including many top officials, according to two people familiar with the proposal and documents obtained by The Washington Post, escalating Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s war on leakers and internal dissent.

All military service members, civilian employees and contract workers within the office of the defense secretary and the Joint Staff, estimated to be more than 5,000 personnel, would be required to sign a nondisclosure agreement that “prohibits the release of non-public information without approval or through a defined process,” according to a draft memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg...

More recently, the Pentagon has issued a requirement that reporters covering the military sign an agreement not to solicit or gather any information — even unclassified — that hasn’t been expressly authorized for release, the penalty for which could be press credential revocation. Reporters have until later this month to agree to those terms."

Lawmakers Across the Country This Year Blocked Ethics Reforms Meant to Increase Public Trust; ProPublica, October 1, 2025

Gabriel Sandoval, ProPublica, with additional reporting by Nick Reynolds and Anna Wilder, The Post and Courier; Yasmeen Khan, The Maine Monitor; Lauren Dake, Oregon Public Broadcasting; Marjorie Childress, New Mexico In Depth; Louis Hansen, Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO; Mary Steurer and Jacob Orledge, North Dakota Monitor; Kate McGee, The Texas Tribune; Alyse Pfeil, The Advocate | The Times-Picayune; and Shauna Sowersby, The Seattle Times , ProPublica; Lawmakers Across the Country This Year Blocked Ethics Reforms Meant to Increase Public Trust

"At a time when the bounds of government ethics are being stretched in Washington, D.C., hundreds of ethics-related bills were introduced this year in state legislatures, according to the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures’ ethics legislation database. While legislation strengthening ethics oversight did pass in some places, a ProPublica analysis found lawmakers across multiple states targeted or thwarted reforms designed to keep the public and elected officials accountable to the people they serve.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers tried to push through bills to tighten gift limits, toughen conflict-of-interest provisions or expand financial disclosure reporting requirements. Time and again, the bills were derailed.

With the help of local newsrooms, many of which have been part of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, we reviewed a range of legislation that sought to weaken or stymie ethics regulations in 2025. We also spoke to experts for an overview of trends nationwide. Their take: The threats to ethics standards and their enforcement have been growing.

“Donald Trump has been ushering a new cultural standard, in which ethics is no longer significant,” said Craig Holman, a veteran government ethics specialist with the progressive watchdog nonprofit Public Citizen. He pointed to Trump’s private dinner with top buyers of his cryptocurrency and the administration’s tariff deal with Vietnam after it greenlit the Trump Organization’s $1.5 billion golf resort complex; and he said in an email it was “most revealing” that the White House “for the first time in over 16 years has no ethics policy. Trump 2.0 simply repealed Biden’s ethics Executive Order and replaced it with nothing.”

FBI leaders allege in lawsuit they were unlawfully fired over political loyalty; The Washington Post, September 10, 2025

Perry Stein , The Washington Post; FBI leaders allege in lawsuit they were unlawfully fired over political loyalty

"Before he was briefly named the FBI’s acting director early this year, Brian Driscoll says, he got a call from a Trump administration official who peppered him with a series of pointed questions that appeared to be a loyalty test.

Among them: “Who did you vote for?” “When did you start supporting President Trump?” “Have you voted for a Democrat in the last five elections?” “Do you agree that the FBI agents who stormed Mar-a-Lago … should be held accountable?”"

He could have been the GOP’s voice on crime, but his faith intervened; The Washington Post, August 7, 2025

 Emily Davies, The Washington Post; He could have been the GOP’s voice on crime, but his faith intervened

"“I want the world to know that I’ve forgiven Glynn,” Todd recalled saying to his parents, “and because of that, there have been benefits given to me.”

Incarceration, he felt, may not be the way to bring his assailant closer to God. Neal, now 44, already had served 13 years in prison after being convicted of luring two North Carolina women into prostitution in the District and repeatedly beating them when they resisted having sex with strangers, court records show. Neal, whose attorneys did not return requests for comment, was released on March 24, 2023 — the day before Todd was attacked.

“That clearly did not work,” Todd recalled telling his parents, meaning Neal’s years behind bars.

“At the same time,” he said to them, he recalled in an interview, “I also don’t want the world to misperceive forgiveness as ceding that this is okay.”"

After years of lap-dog performances, Oklahoma’s Ethics Commission has finally found its bite; Oklahoma Voice, August 4, 2025

Janelle Specklein , Oklahoma Voice; After years of lap-dog performances, Oklahoma’s Ethics Commission has finally found its bite

"Hats off to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, which over the course of the past few months has seemingly transformed itself from a toothless shih tzu into an aggressive, but well-trained pitbull that’s going for the jugular.

For years, the agency and its governing board inspired about as much fear as a cute baby bunny would into the state employees, lobbyists and political candidates that they were supposed to hold accountable. 

The body had also demonstrated a propensity for secrecy, which kept the public in the dark about what they were doing. In 2023, Attorney General Gentner Drummond accused the public board of violating the state Open Meeting Act by discussing the candidate qualifications and details of the search process for their next executive director behind closed doors.

But in recent months something — or someone — has knocked the board’s rose-colored glasses askew, and politicians, lobbyists and statewide political campaigns have been in for a rude awakening. Democrats and Republicans are suddenly discovering they’re dealing with a board that has plenty of teeth and is willing to fight for Oklahomans, consequences be damned.

It’s been an inspiring sight to behold following years of lackluster performance.

In the past few months, Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters agreed to pay an $18,300 settlement in connection with an improper transfer of funds for a school board election in Jenks and a $5,000 penalty for using his state social media account for personal reasons. Shelley Zumwalt, who once served as a Cabinet secretary for Gov. Kevin Stitt, agreed to pay a $20,000 fine and not to hold any position funded with state dollars for two years to resolve an ethics case involving contracts awarded to a firm her husband worked at. The Commission entered into a settlement agreement with Rep. Ajay Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, to pay the agency $35,000 for a variety of ethics issues related spending campaign funds.

Earlier this month, the Commission disclosed that they’re planning to open another formal investigation into Pittman and will pursue the case in court after she missed payments.

They’ve also disclosed that they’re pursuing a case against the Gamefowl Commission on accusations that it violated financial disclosure rules. The group had been lobbying to reduce the penalty for cockfighting from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Oklahomans appear to finally have the type of board they’ve long deserved and hoped for since 1990 when they voted to create the Ethics Commission and enshrine it into the state’s Constitution so that lawmakers couldn’t abolish it."

CBS: Caving. Bowing. Scraping.; The New York Times, July 26, 2025

 MAUREEN DOWD, The New York Times; CBS: Caving. Bowing. Scraping.

"CBS is, as Colbert said, “morally bankrupt.” It’s sickening to see media outlets, universities, law firms and tech companies bending the knee. (Hang tough, Rupert!)

Satirists are left to hold people accountable, and they are more than ready." 

Trump’s Comments Undermine AI Action Plan, Threaten Copyright; Publishers Weekly, July 23, 2025

 Ed Nawotka  , Publishers Weekly; Trump’s Comments Undermine AI Action Plan, Threaten Copyright

"Senate bill proposes 'opt-in' legislation

Trump's comments come on the heels of the introduction, by U.S. senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), of the AI Accountability and Personal Data Protection Act this past Monday following a hearing last week on AI companies' copyright infringement. The bipartisan legislation aims to hold AI firms liable for using copyrighted works or personal data without acquiring explicit consent to train AI models. It would empower individuals—including writers, artists, and content creators—to sue companies in federal court if their data or copyrighted works are used without consent. It also supports class action lawsuits and advocates for violators to pay robust penalties.

"AI companies are robbing the American people blind while leaving artists, writers, and other creators with zero recourse," said Hawley. "It’s time for Congress to give the American worker their day in court to protect their personal data and creative works. My bipartisan legislation would finally empower working Americans who now find their livelihoods in the crosshairs of Big Tech’s lawlessness."

"This bill embodies a bipartisan consensus that AI safeguards are urgent—because the technology is moving at accelerating speed, and so are dangers to privacy," added Blumenthal. "Enforceable rules can put consumers back in control of their data, and help bar abuses. Tech companies must be held accountable—and liable legally—when they breach consumer privacy, collecting, monetizing or sharing personal information without express consent. Consumers must be given rights and remedies—and legal tools to make them real—not relying on government enforcement alone."

Democratic lawmakers seek answers from homeland security head about masked Ice agents; The Guardian, July 25, 2025

José Olivares, The Guardian; Democratic lawmakers seek answers from homeland security head about masked Ice agents

 "Democratic members of Congress are pressing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reveal information about immigration officers’ practice of wearing masks and concealing their identities, according to a letter viewed by the Guardian.

The letter marks another step in pushes by US lawmakers to require immigration officials to identify themselves during arrest operations, especially when agents are masked, a practice that has sparked outrage among civil rights groups.

Congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the powerful committee on oversight and government reform, along with Representative Summer Lee, wrote to the secretary of the DHS, Kristi Noem, pressing for “memoranda, directives, guidance, communications” regarding immigration officers’ use of masks and unmarked cars for immigration operations.

“For every person within the United States, the Fourth Amendment guarantees protection from unreasonable searches and seizures and the Fifth Amendment guarantees a right to due process under the law,” the pair wrote. “In direct violation of these principles, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has allowed its agents – primarily from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) – to conceal their identities and use unmarked vehicles while conducting immigration enforcement activities."...

Experts warn that masked officers may not only erode trust in law enforcement agencies, but can also allow officers to escape accountability."

Venezuelans deported by Trump to El Salvador describe ‘horror movie’ mega-prison; The Guardian, July 24, 2025

Marina Dunbar and agency , The Guardian; Venezuelans deported by Trump to El Salvador describe ‘horror movie’ mega-prison

"Arturo Suárez, whose reggaeton songs surfaced on social media after he was sent to El Salvador, arrived at his family’s home in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on Tuesday. His sister hugged him after he emerged from a vehicle belonging to the country’s intelligence service.

“It is hell. We met a lot of innocent people,” Suárez told reporters, referring to the prison he was held in. “To all those who mistreated us, to all those who negotiated with our lives and our freedom, I have one thing to say, and scripture says it well: vengeance and justice is mine, and you are going to give an account to God [the] Father.”...

Meanwhile, Andry José Hernández Romero, a gay makeup artist who had been deported to Cecot under an obscure wartime law invoked by the Trump administration, was among those released.

Romero had entered the US legally through the CBP One app last summer, seeking asylum, but eventually was detained and removed to El Salvador with the others.

The Immigrant Defenders Law Center, based in Los Angeles, is now appealing Romero’s case, according to ABC, asserting that he was denied his legal right to seek asylum.

Romero broke down in tears when he was finally reunited with his parents in Venezuela on Wednesday, reported ABC News 10.

“His entire town was waiting for him, preparing a meal,” said Melissa Shepard, legal services director at the California non-profit."