When authorities in Philadelphia found a motion sensor along some railroad tracks, they worried terrorists might be installing triggering devices to launch an attack against trains along the busy eastern rail corridor between Boston and Washington. But they soon found out terrorism concerns overshadowed the real problem of employee misconduct. Days after public warnings were issued, an employee came forward to admit he had installed the device to wake him up when his supervisors were coming while he slept during the overnight shift. The story made national news and heightened fears of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Continued fears of terrorism attacks, echoed in recent days by announcements from the U.S. Department of Justice, continues to preclude efforts by the public to make themselves safer from other public health and environmental threats. The need for accountability in terrorism investigations also arose in another case that earned national media attention. A Portland lawyer was freed after law enforcement authorities mistakenly tied him through fingerprints to the Madrid train bombings. News reports covered the arrest of Brandon Mayfield as a material witness to a terrorist attack, a charge which allowed the government to hold Mayfield indefinitely. His release after authorities found that his fingerprints did not match those found at the Madrid bombings highlighted the far-reaching material witness powers of the federal government. Such problems highlight the need for disclosure about the government's use of these broad powers and adequate safeguards for their use.