Challenge to Government Secrecy on "No Fly" List

from the ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California has filed afederal lawsuit challenging secret "no fly" and other transportationwatch lists. In papers filed with the court, the ACLU said that atleast 339 passengers have been stopped and questioned at San FranciscoInternational Airport since September 2001.

"At the San Francisco airport alone, hundreds of passengers werestopped or questioned in connection with the so-called 'no fly' list,"said Jayashri Srikantiah, a staff attorney with the ACLU of NorthernCalifornia. "If that number is any indication, it is likely thatthousands of individuals at airports across the country are beingroutinely detained and questioned because their names appear on asecret government list."

Filed in federal district court here, the ACLU lawsuit follows twoFreedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act requests filed inthe last five months. The ACLU said the lawsuit was necessary becausethe government has refused to confirm the existence of any protocols,procedures or guidelines as to how the "no fly" lists were created orto detail how they are being maintained or corrected and, importantly,how people who are mistakenly included on the list may have theirnames removed.

"The government has so far failed to disclose even basic informationabout the 'no fly' list, such as why names are added to the list, howincorrect names can be removed from such lists, and what theguidelines and restrictions are regarding the use of such lists,"Srikantiah said.

"The public has a right to accountability about the 'no fly' list andother government watch lists."

The ACLU lawsuit seeks immediate disclosure of the requested records. The ACLU filed the FOIA and Privacy Act requests on behalf of itselfand peace activists Jan Adams and Rebecca Gordon last November.Earlier in 2002, both women were told by airline agents that theirnames appeared on a secret "no fly" list at San FranciscoInternational Airport (SFO).

The women were briefly detained by San Francisco Police while theirnames were checked against a "master" list.

On March 12, the ACLU of Northern California filed a records requestwith airport officials under the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance andthe California Public Records Act. On April 8, airport authoritiesreleased nearly 400 pages of documents which confirm thatapproximately 339 air passengers, between September 2001 and March2003, were stopped or questioned at SFO in connection with the "nofly" list and other watch lists.

An earlier Public Records Act request to airport officials hadconfirmed the existence of the "no fly" list, and that Gordon's andAdams' names had been checked against a "master" list, the ACLU said.The scant public information that is available about transportationwatch lists confirms that the Transportation Security Agency (TSA)maintains at least two watch lists: the "no fly" list and a "selectee"list that establishes which air passengers are singled out foradditional security measures.

Adams and Gordon, co-publishers of War Times, a newspaper that firstbegan publication after September 11, 2001, said they are deeplytroubled by the secrecy of the watch list.

"We are deeply concerned about the government's secret watch lists andthe lack of government accountability," said Adams. "We want to findout how our names appeared on a government watch list and how we canget our names off the list. But instead of answering our questions,the federal government has refused to release any information."The case is Rebecca Gordon et al., v. FBI et al., filed in US DistrictCourt for the Northern District of California. The legal complaint isonline at www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=12435&c=206.

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