The Mosaic Theory in Individual Rights Litigation: On the Genealogy and Expansion of a Concept

This article explores the use of the concept of mosaics in individual rights litigation, a topic that has received virtually no scholarly attention. Originally a construct used in analysis of intelligence data, the mosaic theory has been transposed to the litigation context and applied in a range of recent case law. Here, the article examines the theory\u27s use in two settings that have important implications for individual liberties: to support the state secrets privilege as a form of information control, and to defeat habeas petitions filed by war on terror detainees. In these areas, the mosaic concept is used in two distinct ways: restrictively, to inhibit information development by the public, and expansively, to enhance information development by the government. These uses of the mosaic theory threaten civil liberties and thwart processes of ensuring executive accountability. Within the discussed contexts, courts can and should limit the use of the mosaic theory. Mosaics will likely remain part of the narrative structure of legal claims and defenses, but the absorption of mosaic into the grammar of executive power should be resisted

Magna Carta, the Rule of Law and the Limits on Government

This paper surveys the legal tradition that links Magna Carta with the modern concepts of the rule of law and the limits on government. It documents that the original understanding of the rule of law included substantive commitments to individual freedom and limited government. Then, it attempts at explaining how and why such commitments were lost to a formalist interpretation of the rule of law from 1848 to 1939. The paper concludes by arguing how a revival of the substantive commitments of the rule of law is central in a project of reshaping modern states

Bargaining with the Machine: Technology, Surveillance, and the Social Contract

Cell phone apps share location data in exchange for giving users a more detailed and unique experience. Software companies store user data in cloud storage in exchange for allowing users to access their files from any computer. Biometric scanners read fingerprints in exchange for improved security. Employees at a Swedish company agreed to have microchips implanted in their hands in exchange for greater convenience in opening doors and buying food. As technology becomes ever more inescapable, the ability to freely consent to these exchanges becomes increasingly unclear. Robert Pallitto uses the social theory of bargaining to explore the daily compromises we make with technology. We effectively bargain with the machine by giving up certain freedoms (e.g., privacy) in exchange for benefits (e.g., convenience), but is resistance to such bargains still possible when the technologies are backed by pervasive, and often coercive, corporate and state power? What do the liberal concepts of freedom and choice mean when our choices are already to a great extent determined by the technologies structuring our existence? Can we still talk about a social contract, when we are not always aware of the agreements we are making, the benefits we receive come with hidden costs, and the state is allied with corporate and military interests that receive benefits at the expense of the people? Bargaining with the Machine examines these thorny and complex questions by exploring the various irresistible bargains that confront people today

The new mobilities paradigm and critical security studies: exploring common ground

Security and Global Affair