No Fly List

Posted on April 6, 2004 in Liberty

Cry the Beloved Country! (And no apologies to you, Mike Golby! — I’m borrowing the cry!) One day you may discover that you’re not welcome on that Boston flight you booked. Seven people filed suit against the Department of Homeland (In)Security because, despite having no police records, no convictions, they are considered to be potential terrorists. The seven include a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force; two lawyers; a retired minister; a member of the ACLU; an AFSC staff member; and a Middlebury College student who can’t come home from Paris because of the ban!

According to the ACLU:

“I am joining this lawsuit today because I have been publicly humiliated and ostracized due to the government’s mistake about my identity,” said Michelle D. Green, a Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force who has served for 16 years. “As someone who serves her country and obeys the laws of the land, I was shocked to learn I was on the No-Fly list. I was even more disturbed to find that there is no way to get off the list.”

The existence of the list was denied until just before the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act Request on behalf of two anti-war activists in November 2002. A year and a half later, innocent people are stopped, searched, and prevented from flying without probable cause or a warrant.

Politics Tuesday ends with this message. I hope you will act on it by giving to the ACLU.