Bad Laws

A catalog of laws used to identify politicians who voted YES on legislation that harms citizen rights. Each page documents what the law does, what constitutional rights it threatens, and why it is a searchable voting-record red flag.

The List

• IIJA Section 24220 — Vehicle Kill Switch Mandate — Mandates "advanced impaired driving prevention technology" in new cars; critics call it a government kill switch on personal vehicles.
• NDAA FY2012 — Indefinite Military Detention — Authorizes indefinite military detention of US citizens without trial, gutting habeas corpus.
• NDAA FY2027 Section 224 — US-Israel Military Tech Integration — Routes US defense R&D budget into joint production with Israel and grants integrated access to US military networks and data systems.
• Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — Expands gun background checks and incentivizes state red-flag laws allowing firearm seizure without due process.
• Corporate Transparency Act — Forces most companies to report beneficial owners to a federal FinCEN database; critics call it financial surveillance.
• FISA Section 702 Reauthorizations — Permits warrantless surveillance of Americans' communications through "incidental" collection and backdoor queries.
• TikTok Ban / PAFACA — Forces divestiture or effective ban of foreign-adversary apps; critics fear it sets a censorship precedent.
• State Anti-Riot / Protest Laws — Heighten penalties for protests and grant driver immunity for hitting protesters; opponents say they chill 1st Amendment rights.
• Anti-Boycott Israel Laws (BDS) — State and federal laws penalizing Americans who participate in BDS economic protest against Israel.
• CISA 2015 — Cybersecurity Surveillance — Allows private companies to hand user data to intelligence agencies without warrants under "cyber threat" cover.
• FOSTA-SESTA — Removed Section 230 immunity for platform speech, causing mass over-censorship of legal content across the internet.
• CLOUD Act 2018 — Lets US law enforcement demand data stored abroad, bypassing foreign privacy laws and judicial oversight.
• Antisemitism Awareness Act (2024) — Adopts IHRA antisemitism definition for campus Title VI enforcement; critics say it chills protected criticism of Israeli government policy.
• Texas SB 13 — Anti-Energy Boycott — Bars state contracts with firms that boycott fossil fuel companies; penalizes political economic speech.
• Florida HB 3 — Anti-ESG — Mandates state pension funds ignore ESG factors; bars state contracts with companies that boycott favored industries.
• State Anti-ESG Boycott Laws — Arkansas HB 1307 and similar laws in 20+ states punishing boycotts of fossil fuels, firearms, and agriculture.
• Oklahoma HB 1123 — Critical Infrastructure — The 2017 ALEC template law making pipeline protest a felony; copied by ~20 states.
• Louisiana HB 727 — Critical Infrastructure — 2018 felony trespass law for energy infrastructure; targets Cancer Alley environmental activists.
• North Dakota SB 2044 — Critical Infrastructure — 2019 law passed in direct response to Standing Rock, criminalizing indigenous pipeline protest.
• State Critical Infrastructure Laws (Texas HB 3557+) — The broader 2019+ wave of ALEC-drafted laws across Texas, South Dakota, Kentucky, Indiana, and others.
• USA PATRIOT Act and Reauthorizations — The post-9/11 surveillance foundation: bulk collection, roving wiretaps, NSLs, sneak-and-peek searches; repeatedly reauthorized 2006–2015.
• USA FREEDOM Act (2015) — "Reformed" NSA bulk collection but preserved surveillance infrastructure and extended PATRIOT Act authorities; critics call it cosmetic reform.
• H.R. 347 — Federal Restricted Buildings Act (2012) — Lowered intent standard for federal no-protest zones around Secret Service protectees; passed 399–3 with almost no debate.
• REAL ID Act (2005 / Enforced 2025) — Created a de facto national ID card system and interlinked state DMV database; full TSA enforcement began May 7, 2025.
• Anti-Money Laundering Act 2020 — Most significant Bank Secrecy Act expansion since the PATRIOT Act; extends financial surveillance reporting to new business sectors.
• Bank Secrecy Act and Financial Reporting Expansions — Banks file 26M reports/year to FinCEN; structuring prosecutions of innocent people; only 7% of reports lead to any prosecution.
• Federal Social Media Monitoring Programs — DHS/FBI monitor Americans' public posts under homeland security authorities; documented targeting of BLM, anti-pipeline, and anti-Trump protesters.
• Federal Data Broker Purchase Authorities — ICE, DHS, FBI, IRS buy location data and personal profiles without warrants; $1B Palantir contract integrates AI analytics across DHS.

Government Propaganda and Censorship

• Smith-Mundt Propaganda Act (2012) — Lifted the 64-year ban on domestic US government propaganda; passed buried in the NDAA with no standalone debate.
• Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act (2016) — Created the Global Engagement Center; critics document it was used to fund blacklists of American journalists and censor domestic speech.
• FCC Broadband Privacy Rules Repeal — S.J.Res. 34 (2017) — Party-line 50–48 Senate vote gave ISPs permanent right to sell your browsing history, location, health, and financial data without consent.
• CASE Act — Copyright Claims Tribunal (2020) — Out-of-court copyright tribunal can impose $30,000 fines; an opt-out trap lets trolls extract money from people who share memes or photos without realizing it.

Biometric and Border Surveillance

• TSA and CBP Biometric Surveillance Programs — Facial recognition at airports and biometric entry/exit for all travelers; no comprehensive privacy review, documented 100x racial error rates.
• CBP Warrantless Electronic Device Searches at the Border — 55,000+ phone and laptop searches per year, no warrant required, no suspicion needed for a basic search; more than quadrupled since 2015.
• No-Fly List — Secret Blacklist Without Due Process — Added for a clerical error; you're not told why; the "redress" process has been ruled unconstitutional; state secrets invoked to hide government errors.

Drone Surveillance and Airspace Control

• Preventing Emerging Threats Act (2018) — Drone Kill Authority — DHS/DOJ can seize or destroy private drones without a warrant; exempts government from wiretap laws when intercepting drone signals.
• FAA Remote ID — Drone Tracking Mandate — All drones must broadcast the operator's real-time GPS location continuously; a digital license plate readable by anyone with a smartphone.

IRS and Financial Overreach

• IRS Financial Surveillance Expansion — $600 Venmo Rule and $80B Enforcement — Dropped payment app reporting to $600 targeting gig workers; $45.6B earmarked for IRS enforcement; CBO confirmed middle-class audits will increase.
• PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act (2011) — Senate 72–23 renewed bulk collection, roving wiretaps, and lone wolf surveillance; Obama signed it by autopen from France; Wyden warned secretly of hidden abuses.
• Fix NICS Act (2018) — Expanding the Gun Prohibition Database — 168,000 veterans prohibited based on VA paperwork; false matches hit Hispanic and Black names disproportionately; 5.1M denials, near-zero prosecutions.
• Treasury Geographic Targeting Orders — Real Estate Surveillance — FinCEN orders requiring identity disclosure for all-cash real estate deals; no congressional vote needed; expanded from 2 cities in 2016 to major markets nationwide.

Youth, Schools, and Speech

• STOP School Violence Act (2018) — Student Surveillance Programs — Funds social media monitoring of students on personal devices outside school hours; anonymous tip systems weaponized for bullying; zero evidence of preventing shootings.
• COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (2021) — Senate 94–1; creates federal online reporting for "hate incidents" (protected speech) as well as crimes; builds government monitoring infrastructure for constitutionally protected expression.

Infrastructure and Energy Protest Suppression

• PIPES Act (2020) — Federal Pipeline Penalties — Existing federal law already imposes 20-year felonies for pipeline damage; industry lobby is pushing to expand "attack" definitions to sweep in protest; 300+ anti-protest bills in 45 states since 2017.

Telecommunications and Technology Control

• Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (2020) — Passed 420–4; bans Huawei/ZTE; the "rip and replace" program was funded at half its cost, gutting rural broadband; the FCC Covered List can expand without a congressional vote.
• Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act (2024) — Broad restrictions on data transfers to foreign adversary entities; FTC gets open-ended rulemaking authority to define scope; passed in the same rushed TikTok package.
• USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act (2020) — Congress reauthorized an NSA program the NSA had already stopped using (admitted "minimal value"); Senate stripped House's warrant protections by one vote.
• Federal AI and Algorithmic Monitoring Programs — $1B Palantir/DHS AI contract; Automated Targeting System assigns secret risk scores to millions of travelers; NIST-documented 100x racial error rates; no accountability law exists.