N
Nathan Fried-Wessler
Deputy director of ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project; privacy and surveillance litigation attorney who argued Carpenter v. United States before the U.S. Supreme Court
3
APPEARANCES
3
PODCASTS
012
DEC 30
JAN 6
JAN 13
JAN 20
JAN 27
FEB 3
FEB 10
FEB 17
FEB 24
MAR 3
MAR 10
MAR 17
MAR 24
MAR 31
APR 7
APR 14
APR 21
APR 28
MAY 5
MAY 12
MAY 19
MAY 26
JUN 2
JUN 9
JUN 16
JUN 23
JUN 30
JUL 7
JUL 14
JUL 21
JUL 28
AUG 4
AUG 11
AUG 18
AUG 25
SEP 1
SEP 8
SEP 15
SEP 22
SEP 29
OCT 6
OCT 13
OCT 20
OCT 27
NOV 3
NOV 10
NOV 17
NOV 24
DEC 1
DEC 8
DEC 15
DEC 22
DEC 29
JAN 5
JAN 12
JAN 19
JAN 26
FEB 2
FEB 9
FEB 16
FEB 23
MAR 2
MAR 9
MAR 16
MAR 23
MAR 30
APR 6
APR 13
APR 20
APR 27
MAY 4
MAY 11
MAY 18
MAY 25
JUN 1
JUN 8
JUN 15
JUN 22
JUN 29
JUL 6
JUL 13
JUL 20
JUL 27
AUG 3
AUG 10
AUG 17
AUG 24
AUG 31
SEP 7
SEP 14
SEP 21
Aug 15, 2026
FACIAL RECOGNITION
18:21
N
14:30Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
Yeah, you know, we often say that this is technology that's dangerous when it doesn't work and dangerous when it does.
N
14:36Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
What I mean by that is that this is an algorithmic technology, basically a variant of AI, that's making a best guess about whether an input image might be a match to images in a database.
N
14:50Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
And when it gets it wrong, we've seen it turn people's lives inside out over and over.
N
14:55Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
We now know of at least 15 publicly known cases of wrongful arrest in states across the country after police relied on incorrect results from this technology.
N
15:03Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
This technology also has been shown in audit testing over and over to get it wrong more often with darker-skinned people, so people of color and Black people, which can accentuate biases in policing.

John KatkoHOST
Number two is, what about finding a balance between law enforcement and the goals of keeping the public safe and protecting society? Can we find that balance?
Democracy Now! Thursday, July 23, 2026
30:32
Nermeen ShaikhHOST
If you could talk about what this ruling means and explain what a habeas petition is.
N
30:39Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
Yeah, a habeas petition is one of the oldest forms of legal process we have.
N
30:42Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
It dates from the 1200s in England as a way to... to give judges the power to release people from unjust or unconstitutional or illegal detention.
N
30:52Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
Immediately after Mosen was seized by immigration agents last year, his legal team filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court.
N
30:59Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
And within just a couple weeks, a federal judge looked at the case and ordered him released, saying that there was strong reason to believe that this detention was in violation of his First Amendment rights.
N
31:10Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
That's critical, because otherwise what the government wants... is to be able to hold people, non-citizens, in immigration detention facilities for months or years while the very slow immigration court process plays out.
N
31:24Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
To silence people by putting them behind bars just because the Secretary of State or some other high-level official doesn't like what they say.
9 MINS LATER
Democracy Now! Thursday, July 23, 2026
30:32
Nermeen ShaikhHOST
If you could talk about what this ruling means and explain what a habeas petition is.
N
30:39Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
Yeah, a habeas petition is one of the oldest forms of legal process we have.
N
30:42Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
It dates from the 1200s in England as a way to... to give judges the power to release people from unjust or unconstitutional or illegal detention.
N
30:52Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
Immediately after Mosen was seized by immigration agents last year, his legal team filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court.
N
30:59Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
And within just a couple weeks, a federal judge looked at the case and ordered him released, saying that there was strong reason to believe that this detention was in violation of his First Amendment rights.
N
31:10Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
That's critical, because otherwise what the government wants... is to be able to hold people, non-citizens, in immigration detention facilities for months or years while the very slow immigration court process plays out.
N
31:24Nathan Fried-WesslerGUEST
To silence people by putting them behind bars just because the Secretary of State or some other high-level official doesn't like what they say.
9 MINS LATER