The problem of police brutality against black Americans isn’t caused by “a few bad apples” on police forces, a new paper argues.

Free speech is in the news. Not least because several leading universities have adopted a “model code” to protect it on campus.

"Even if we can't change the immigration policies or prevent raids from happening, people should know that they can access [government] services," says Daniel Kruger.

It’s a common assumption that being online means you’ll have to part ways with your personal data and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Vast amounts of personal, behavioural and academic data about children are being collected, processed and used by schools, local authorities, and the government every year.

In the sixth GOP debate, Donald Trump told Americans: “The police are the most mistreated people in this country.”

Society seems set on a course to a point where our lives are subject to the scrutiny of computer algorithms. The data we generate is pored over and analysed, whether by governments for national security or companies for profit, and this is unlikely to change – the power and appeal of data analysis, once found, will not be given up easily.

The line between “intended” and “unintended” pregnancy can be blurred. Some unintended pregnancies can lead to wanted births, and some intended pregnancies are aborted. But women should not be blamed for getting pregnant accidentally, because factors outside their control are often involved.

Before the dust has even settled from the attacks on Paris, familiar calls for greater surveillance powers are surfacing. The desire for greater security is understandable, but that doesn’t mean we should suspend our judgement on the measures proposed to bring it about.

Ben Carson has now overtaken Donald Trump in the national polls as the GOP front-runner. As a black man, I’m not at all sure how I should feel about this.

There is a significant amount of research showing that people of color are more often involved in traffic stops than white drivers. But it is not yet known how much of this may be due to racial discrimination and how much of a role is played by other factors

When people say “privacy is dead”, it’s usually for one of two reasons. Either they truly believe that privacy is irrelevant or unachievable in today’s hyper-connected world or, more often, that not enough is being done to protect privacy when huge amounts of personal information are being posted online

The ongoing protests in Ferguson one year after the shooting of Michael Brown highlight the elevated risks that African Americans face when interacting with police in the US.

Capital punishment is such a costly, controversial, and divisive issue that, unless it succeeds in saving lives, it clearly should be abolished – as it already has been in the European Union and in 101 countries around the world. But does the death penalty save lives? Let’s consider the relevant factors and the evidence.

The expiration of key provisions of the US Patriot Act – and the passage of the USA Freedom Act – has renewed interest in the trade-offs between civil liberties and security. To what extent are American citizens willing to concede their civil liberties to the government in order to feel safe and secure from terrorism?

Agencies such as the NSA and the FBI will no longer be permitted to arbitrarily access the logs of phone calls, emails and internet use. Congress has passed the USA Freedom Act of 2015, which limits the power of government intelligence organisations to access the communications records of US citizens.

Recent widespread attention to shocking instances of alleged police misconduct – the killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and now Walter Scott – have rallied voices across the country in defense of equal protection under the rule of law.

Allegations of the use of excessive force by U.S. police departments continue to generate headlines more than two decades after the 1992 Los Angeles riots brought the issue to mass public attention and prompted law enforcement reforms.

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, a time to reflect on the bloodiest war in US history and consider the ways the conflict rages on in the American way of life.