No-fly list
The United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) maintains a watchlist of names of individuals suspected of posing "a risk of air piracy or terrorism or a threat to airline or passenger safety." While initially denying to the media that such a no-fly list list existed, the TSA finally acknowledged its existence in October 2002.
On April 6, 2004 the American Civil Liberties Union "filed a nationwide class-action challenge to the government's 'No-Fly' list", in which they charge that "many innocent travelers who pose no safety risk whatsoever are discovering that their government considers them terrorists – and find that they have no way to find out why they are on the list, and no way to clear their names."
In August 2004, Senator Ted Kennedy revealed to a Senate Judiciary Committee discussing the no-fly list that he had appeared on the list and had been repeatedly delayed at airports. He said it had taken him three weeks of appeals directly to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to have him removed from the list of potential terrorists. Kennedy said that he was eventually told that the name "T Kennedy" was once used as an alias of a suspected terrorist and thus the name was added to the list. There are estimated to be around 7,000 American men called T Kennedy. Recognising that as a senator he was in a privileged position in being able to contact Ridge, Kennedy said of "ordinary citizens", "How are they going to be able to get to be treated fairly and not have their rights abused?"
See also
References
- Rachel L. Swarns (August 20, 2004). "Senator? Terrorist? A Watch List Stops Kennedy at Airport". The New York Times.
External links
- ACLU Challenges Government No-Fly List
- The Electronic Privacy Information Center (April 2003). Documents Show Errors in TSA's "No-Fly" Watchlist.