Hard to Be a 'Good Guy,' When 'Bad Guy' Specs are Secret
The ACLU has filed a federal lawsuit in San
Francisco that challenges the TSA's secret 'no-fly' criteria. The
brief, filed Wednesday, states, "Without even basic information
about the no-fly list or other watch lists, the public cannot
evaluate the government's decision to use such lists."
In other words, since the government won't tell you how to stay
off the 'no-fly' list, it's going to be hard to get people to
believe in it.
As
part of a host of knee-jerk legislation passed after September 11,
the Transportation Security Administration was set up, and given
a plethora of powers, many of which have yet to be challenged.
Its impossible charge: to make public transportation in the USA
safe from terror attacks.
The TSA, through its military and federal-police leadership, has
sought to define criteria that might help it detain possible terror
suspects. One of its tactics was to have distilled those criteria
into a computer program; and the agents are enlisting airlines
(among others) to help gather data, and eventually to identify,
those suspects -- solely on the basis of circumstantial, and
bureaucrat-picked criteria.
Domestic spy agencies in the US, notably the FBI, have also
been tapped for information and names. If you're on the
list, you may be subject to additional scrutiny, denied
boarding, or, presumably, arrested, and thrown into that "black
hole" where you can't have contact with the outside world, where
you can't have a lawyer, and where there is no such thing as
habeas corpus.
Though
the government insists it's just destroying our liberties
for our own good, people conscious of civil rights
and the Constitutional limits on government are waking up to the
enormous spy power the TSA and FBI (among others) are using, to
assemble virtual dossiers on... everybody. When the potential of
this database is compared to the 900 FBI files that reportedly
squelched numerous investigations, and even cost at least one US
Representative his Speaker position in the past decade, the
potential for abuse starts to be realized.
Civil rights groups are understandably miffed at such conduct.
Joining the ACLU are two women activists, Rebecca Gordon and Janet
Adams, who said they were detained 'because their names were on the
list.' The pair publish a rabidly anti-administration publication
called War Times. The TSA says their names were probably
similar to names of some 'real' terrorists, and that they hadn't
been singled out for opposition to the rulers of the country.
Last year, a score of people from the group, "Peace Action
of Wisconsin" were detained in Milwaukee when their names came up.
[Perhaps all had names similar to 'real' terrorists' --ed.] The
whole group, including the students, a nun, and a priest, missed
their flight.
The Tide is Turning; People Aren't Just 'Taking It' Any
More
In the
past, allegations of 'spontaneous' IRS audits of administration
opponents were common; one lady was jailed for 'attempted assault'
against the President for yelling at him, "You suck!" and others
(near the curent President's home town) had their church beseiged,
for harboring politically-incorrect (though not illegal) beliefs.
This, though, is different: it's affecting more people, under an
increasingly unpopular administration and justice department; the
new Department of Homeland Security hasn't found its stride; and
the TSA has shoved itself into the faces of just too many people,
to be tolerated.
The ACLU says it has 339 documented cases of harrassment, at
just San Francisco's airport: people who were thought to be on some
government blacklist. By extrapolation, the ACLU figures
there must be others, at other airports... ACLU lawyer Jayashri
Srikantiah told The New York Times, "There's every reason
to believe this is happening at airports around the country."
The FBI, in response to an ACLU FOIA request, said it didn't
have any records that might be pertinent to any such harrassment;
yet the San Francisco airport said the FBI was in on many of the
detention investigations. The TSA, as usual, did not return calls
of inquiry -- but not to us, this time -- to the NYT.
The
San Francisco Chronicle says the point of the suit is
straightforward: "The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San
Francisco, seeks to require the Bush administration to reveal how
many names are on the lists, how names are added and removed and
how often they have been used to identify the wrong person." [Ms
Adams, for instance, was identified as, "J. Adams" --ed.]
You can complain, officially.
If you want to try complaining, you can write the Office of
Ombudsman, Transportation Security Administration, 701 S. 12th St.,
2nd Floor, Arlington, VA 22202.
Whether you use your own name is up to you...
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.15.24)
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