Related....CAPPS
II  Related....State of the Union Related....Congress Takes Aim Related....LifeLog |
|
FIRST NATIONWIDE CHALLENGE TO GOVERNMENT "NO-FLY" LIST
When our own government starts to treat all of us like suspects, we must take action. That's why the ACLU filed suit this week against a Bush administration practice that is trapping innocent people in a web of harassment and suspicion.
No one knows how many people are on these secretive lists.
But we do know that people whose names are on the list are regularly pulled aside and detained. They never know when or if they will be permitted to fly. They can't find out why their names are listed or how to clear themselves and get taken off the list.
Our lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Seattle, Washington, is the first nationwide, class-action challenge to the government's secretive "No-Fly" list. The complaint names Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and TSA Director David M. Stone and their respective agencies as co-defendants.
We are asking the court to declare that the "No-Fly" list violates airline passengers' constitutional rights to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure and to due process of law under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
The individuals represented in the lawsuit are innocent of any wrongdoing and pose no threat to aviation security. But even after some of the plaintiffs obtained letters from the TSA stating that they were not a threat, they were still subject to delays, enhanced searches, detentions, and other travel impediments.