One Strike Against No Fly List; More Scrutiny To Come

New submitter MickyTheIdiot writes "The Jurist reports: 'A judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon ruled Wednesday (PDF) that those placed on the U.S. government's no-fly list have 'a constitutionally-protected liberty interest in traveling internationally by air, which is affected by being placed on the No Fly List.' The plaintiffs in the case are 13 U.S. citizens who were denied boarding on flights over U.S. airspace after January 2009.' Judge Anna Brown hasn't ruled on the constitutionality of the No Fly List yet, and has instructed the attorneys involved to present a roadmap for deciding the remaining issues. However, she has acknowledged that the No Fly List is a major burden to those on the list and they have the right to get that status reviewed."

Comments

Re:Come on, you jackbooted apologists...

[Frobnicator]

You seem to forget that the Constitution grants powers from the people to the government, not the other way around. Too frequently people wrongly assume that the only rights people have are those expressly reserved for the people by the Constitution.

If a power is not mentioned in the Constitution the government does not have that power. It remains with the people.

Re:Anyone should be able to fly

[multiplexo]

People charged with a crime often have a their movements restricted as a condition of their bail.

Yes, people charged with a crime often have their movements restricted as a condition of bail, a fact which has nothing to do with the TSA's idiotic no-fly list. See people who are charged with a crime and who have had their movements restricted have had the benefits of a little thing called due process of law and the fifth amendment to the Constitution. See, if you've been charged with a crime and have had your movements restricted that means that you've been arrested, charged in a court of law, allowed to have counsel to represent you. You can also appeal the judgment that restricts your movements, confront the witnesses against you and you have the right to subpoena witnesses to testify in your favor. You have none of this with the TSA. The TSA restricts your liberty to travel without telling you why they've done so or what evidence they used to make this determination and gives you no opportunity to defend yourself. The TSA no-fly list is essentially nothing more than the imposition of Soviet style internal passports that has nothing to do with protecting citizens and everything to do with restricting their movements.