Federal court will hear constitutional challenge to ‘No Fly List’
A federal court has ruled constitutional rights are at stake when the government places Americans on its No Fly List, a small victory for those who say the opaque process is illegal.
The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of 13 plaintiffs (four of which are military veterans), challenges the means by which one can get off the list, calling the process unfair, inadequate and unconstitutional.
The No Fly List consists of thousands of individuals not worthy of arrest, but deemed too dangerous to fly commercially to or from the U.S. or over American airspace. Yet the individuals are not told why they have been added to the list, nor do they have real means for getting off the list. The only way to be sure one is or is not on the list is purchasing a plane ticket and attempting to board a flight.
The ACLU says this process violates the Fifth Amendment, in that the government cannot deprive a person of liberty "without due process of law."
In May 2011, the US district court originally dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds, stating the Transportation Security Administration should have been subject to the suit given the agency handles the redress process for any traveler denied boarding a plane. Last summer, the 9th Circuit Appeals Court reversed the district court's dismissal, and now the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon is considering the case on its merits.
http://rt.com/usa/challenge-no-fly-list-187/
= new reply since forum marked as read
'nuff said.
