Tuesday, April 22, 2003
If you are a terrorist, any kind of an "activist" or if your name is John Thomas, surprise, you are all on the same "no-fly list!"
A Milwaukee experience
Once upon a time, not too long ago, a priest the nun and the activist went to the Milwaukee airport with a group of activists. They were all going to a "Peace Action Meeting" in Boston on ATA. Well one person from the group went to the ticket counter and suddenly she was told that there was a computer problem and that "someone" had to be called, the "someone" turned out to be a sheriff's deputy, who led her away with her bags in tow to a nearby building. The Deputy took her driver's license and she sat there alone for 20 minutes. They asked her what her nationality was, what her phone number was. They asked her if she was a U.S. citizen, and if she was from around there. She was told it was routine. Others from the group were also pulled over. They were given multiple explanations. One explanation was that they were looking for Hispanics. She was then allowed to go back to the ticket terminal, where she was told the computer locked up again, and were told that the deputies would deliver their boarding passes. The passes had bold faced "S" with little asterisks on both sides circled in red, which meant that they had to be hand-searched and use a hand wand. They were held just long enough for all of them to miss their flights, all 19 members of the same group.
Did anyone notice a new agency and What List?
For months, the TSA, a federal agency, established a year ago to protect the nation’s transportation system from terrorism, denied it had a blacklist of people to be singled out by security staff for special inspection and questioning.
Ok, Yes we have a list.
Spokesman David Steigman acknowledged that the government does have “a list of about 1,000 people” who are deemed “threats to aviation” and not allowed on airplanes under any circumstances.
Did anyone know there was a law too?
The law passed by the Bush administration after September 11th empowers John W. Magaw Under Secretary of Transportation for Security to "establish policies and procedures requiring air carriers to use information from government agencies to identify individuals on passenger lists who may be a threat to civil aviation and, if such an individual is identified, to notify appropriate law enforcement agencies and prohibit the individual from boarding an aircraft."
Who establishes the guidelines for the list?
The TSA itself says it has no guidelines defining who is put on the list, but rather relies on names provided by other federal agencies, such as the FBI, Secret Service or INS. But no one at those agencies could say who is responsible for managing the list or who can remove names of people who have been cleared by authorities. The TSA also has no procedures for people to clear their names and get off the list.
Is there a second list too?
Asked if the TSA has a second list, one not of the “threats to aviation” who would never be allowed to get on a plane, but rather of political activists who are to be singled out for intense scrutiny and interrogation,
No comment on the list
TSA spokesman Nico Melendez “We’re trying to maintain the integrity of the list,” Melendez said. “We don’t make a habit of commenting on the list.”
FOIA shows you do have 2 lists, Mr. Bush
The documents obtained under the Freedom Of Information Act establish that the TSA administers two lists: a "no-fly" list and a "selectee" list, which requires the passenger to go through additional security measures. The names are provided to air carriers through Security Directives or Emergency Amendments and are stored in their computer systems so that an individual with a name that somewhat matches the list can be flagged when getting a boarding pass. A "no-fly" match requires the agent to call a law enforcement officer to detain and question the passenger. In the case of a Selectee, an "S" or special mark is printed on their boarding pass and the person receives additional screening at security. The TSA has withheld the number of names on each of the lists.
Who is on these lists?
a Freedom of Information Act request in October 2002 was submitted to learn more about the operation of the watch-list, which reportedly had been used to interfere with the travel of political activists. When the TSA failed to respond to EPIC's request, EPIC filed suit in December 2002. ( EPIC v. TSA ). The lawsuit sought, among other things, TSA's criteria for putting people on so-called "no-fly lists" that bar some passengers from flying and subject others to extensive scrutiny,
We have major threats to aviation, and they are non-violent?
Most of those who have been singled out for special interrogation and searches of their luggage and their persons, at least those who have gone public with their experiences, clearly are not “threats to aviation.” Indeed, many have been ardent advocates of nonviolence.
Here are some examples how these lists are being used.
Sarah Backus a coordinator for Schools of America Watch was stopped and held over and told by the sheriff, that she was stopped, because she was part of a peace group and she was protesting against the country.
John Dear, a 43-year-old Jesuit priest, member of the Catholic peace group Pax Christi and former executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an interfaith global peace organization. flies just about every week, and he said "Since 9/11, I’ve been taken aside at the boarding gate every single time and searched and questioned.”
Others, like the Green Party’s Nancy Oden, have reported being detained by armed soldiers, or, like Green Party leader Doug Stuber, questioned by Secret Service agents, sometimes at such length that they missed their flights. In most cases, they ultimately were permitted to fly to their destinations.
Barbara Olshansky, assistant legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York, reports that she has been stopped and searched every time she has flown since 9/11. One of those times, when she demanded to know why she was being singled out, the airline agent at the gate threatened to bar her from the plane if she raised a fuss and added brusquely, “The computer spit you out. I don’t know why, and I don’t have time to talk to you about it.”
Nancy Chang, a senior litigation attorney at the CCR, who also has been singled out for searches and questioning at the airport, says the government is “leveraging legitimate air safety concerns into a program that targets law-abiding Americans for questioning and detention based on their political viewpoints.
Thomas, a 70-year-old African-American grandmother, found herself on a “No-Fly” list earlier this year when authorities mistook her for a blue-eyed, redheaded man who allegedly killed his wife and three children. The problem: the murder suspect, 28-year-old Christian Michael Longo, used the alias John Thomas Christopher when he successfully fled to Mexico.
Adams, 55, said that she and Gordon, 50, were arrested several times in the 1980s for civil disobedience but did not understand why they would be on a "no-fly" list today. Since the August 2002 incident the have flown without incident.
Sgt. Larry Krupp says he has cleared so many innocent "David Nelsons" that one of them buys him coffee, each time he is stopped at the counter.
"There are people who are being misidentified," said TSA spokesman Brian Turmail. "Airlines, because of the software they use, are saying this person might be on the no-fly list because they have three letters in their name that are similar (to names of persons the government has identified as potential security threats)."
ACLU lawyer Jayashri Srikantiah said it appeared all 339 San Francisco fliers questioned were finally allowed to fly. "If that number is any indication, it is likely that thousands of individuals at airports across the country are being routinely detained and questioned because their names appear on a secret government list," she said.
Calling the existence of such travel blacklists “an obvious and egregious violation of the First Amendment, because it permits both discrimination against a particular viewpoint and because it is a prior restraint on Americans’ right to travel,” CCR Legal Director William Goodman says, “the U.S. government appears to be targeting citizens because of their beliefs.”
"What we are trying to do is get information," she said. "Virtually all information about this list is based in secrecy. One of the things were are very concerned about is whether First Amendment activity is a reason for being on the list," she said, referring to actions protected by the Bill of Rights guarantee to freedom of expression.
One of the other main problems is that the name-matching techniques behind the processing of names on the list can be over 100 years old when it was used in the 1890 census. There is apparently several techniques used, but none of them are fail-safe, and the results get pretty strange.
Mihir Kshirsagar, a policy analyst with Electronic Privacy Information Center, a non profit watchdog group, said that until the TSA clearly defines rules for the “No-Fly” list, people’s civil liberties will continue to suffer.
Some people are very concerned that these new powers by the administration, can be extended at will, to other areas.
Some say, “You’re going to get pulled aside for reasons you just don’t know It’s not just the airports,” he said, explaining that the TSA has jurisdiction over every mode of interstate travel. They way they are talking, it will soon involve all forms of transportation, If you want to go from point A to point B, I guess you can always walk."
I don't know, how much do you trust our Government?
I wonder if my name is on there, I'll let you know if I try to fly anywhere.
A Milwaukee experience
Once upon a time, not too long ago, a priest the nun and the activist went to the Milwaukee airport with a group of activists. They were all going to a "Peace Action Meeting" in Boston on ATA. Well one person from the group went to the ticket counter and suddenly she was told that there was a computer problem and that "someone" had to be called, the "someone" turned out to be a sheriff's deputy, who led her away with her bags in tow to a nearby building. The Deputy took her driver's license and she sat there alone for 20 minutes. They asked her what her nationality was, what her phone number was. They asked her if she was a U.S. citizen, and if she was from around there. She was told it was routine. Others from the group were also pulled over. They were given multiple explanations. One explanation was that they were looking for Hispanics. She was then allowed to go back to the ticket terminal, where she was told the computer locked up again, and were told that the deputies would deliver their boarding passes. The passes had bold faced "S" with little asterisks on both sides circled in red, which meant that they had to be hand-searched and use a hand wand. They were held just long enough for all of them to miss their flights, all 19 members of the same group.
Did anyone notice a new agency and What List?
For months, the TSA, a federal agency, established a year ago to protect the nation’s transportation system from terrorism, denied it had a blacklist of people to be singled out by security staff for special inspection and questioning.
Ok, Yes we have a list.
Spokesman David Steigman acknowledged that the government does have “a list of about 1,000 people” who are deemed “threats to aviation” and not allowed on airplanes under any circumstances.
Did anyone know there was a law too?
The law passed by the Bush administration after September 11th empowers John W. Magaw Under Secretary of Transportation for Security to "establish policies and procedures requiring air carriers to use information from government agencies to identify individuals on passenger lists who may be a threat to civil aviation and, if such an individual is identified, to notify appropriate law enforcement agencies and prohibit the individual from boarding an aircraft."
Who establishes the guidelines for the list?
The TSA itself says it has no guidelines defining who is put on the list, but rather relies on names provided by other federal agencies, such as the FBI, Secret Service or INS. But no one at those agencies could say who is responsible for managing the list or who can remove names of people who have been cleared by authorities. The TSA also has no procedures for people to clear their names and get off the list.
Is there a second list too?
Asked if the TSA has a second list, one not of the “threats to aviation” who would never be allowed to get on a plane, but rather of political activists who are to be singled out for intense scrutiny and interrogation,
No comment on the list
TSA spokesman Nico Melendez “We’re trying to maintain the integrity of the list,” Melendez said. “We don’t make a habit of commenting on the list.”
FOIA shows you do have 2 lists, Mr. Bush
The documents obtained under the Freedom Of Information Act establish that the TSA administers two lists: a "no-fly" list and a "selectee" list, which requires the passenger to go through additional security measures. The names are provided to air carriers through Security Directives or Emergency Amendments and are stored in their computer systems so that an individual with a name that somewhat matches the list can be flagged when getting a boarding pass. A "no-fly" match requires the agent to call a law enforcement officer to detain and question the passenger. In the case of a Selectee, an "S" or special mark is printed on their boarding pass and the person receives additional screening at security. The TSA has withheld the number of names on each of the lists.
Who is on these lists?
a Freedom of Information Act request in October 2002 was submitted to learn more about the operation of the watch-list, which reportedly had been used to interfere with the travel of political activists. When the TSA failed to respond to EPIC's request, EPIC filed suit in December 2002. ( EPIC v. TSA ). The lawsuit sought, among other things, TSA's criteria for putting people on so-called "no-fly lists" that bar some passengers from flying and subject others to extensive scrutiny,
We have major threats to aviation, and they are non-violent?
Most of those who have been singled out for special interrogation and searches of their luggage and their persons, at least those who have gone public with their experiences, clearly are not “threats to aviation.” Indeed, many have been ardent advocates of nonviolence.
Here are some examples how these lists are being used.
Sarah Backus a coordinator for Schools of America Watch was stopped and held over and told by the sheriff, that she was stopped, because she was part of a peace group and she was protesting against the country.
John Dear, a 43-year-old Jesuit priest, member of the Catholic peace group Pax Christi and former executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an interfaith global peace organization. flies just about every week, and he said "Since 9/11, I’ve been taken aside at the boarding gate every single time and searched and questioned.”
Others, like the Green Party’s Nancy Oden, have reported being detained by armed soldiers, or, like Green Party leader Doug Stuber, questioned by Secret Service agents, sometimes at such length that they missed their flights. In most cases, they ultimately were permitted to fly to their destinations.
Barbara Olshansky, assistant legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York, reports that she has been stopped and searched every time she has flown since 9/11. One of those times, when she demanded to know why she was being singled out, the airline agent at the gate threatened to bar her from the plane if she raised a fuss and added brusquely, “The computer spit you out. I don’t know why, and I don’t have time to talk to you about it.”
Nancy Chang, a senior litigation attorney at the CCR, who also has been singled out for searches and questioning at the airport, says the government is “leveraging legitimate air safety concerns into a program that targets law-abiding Americans for questioning and detention based on their political viewpoints.
Thomas, a 70-year-old African-American grandmother, found herself on a “No-Fly” list earlier this year when authorities mistook her for a blue-eyed, redheaded man who allegedly killed his wife and three children. The problem: the murder suspect, 28-year-old Christian Michael Longo, used the alias John Thomas Christopher when he successfully fled to Mexico.
Adams, 55, said that she and Gordon, 50, were arrested several times in the 1980s for civil disobedience but did not understand why they would be on a "no-fly" list today. Since the August 2002 incident the have flown without incident.
Sgt. Larry Krupp says he has cleared so many innocent "David Nelsons" that one of them buys him coffee, each time he is stopped at the counter.
"There are people who are being misidentified," said TSA spokesman Brian Turmail. "Airlines, because of the software they use, are saying this person might be on the no-fly list because they have three letters in their name that are similar (to names of persons the government has identified as potential security threats)."
ACLU lawyer Jayashri Srikantiah said it appeared all 339 San Francisco fliers questioned were finally allowed to fly. "If that number is any indication, it is likely that thousands of individuals at airports across the country are being routinely detained and questioned because their names appear on a secret government list," she said.
Calling the existence of such travel blacklists “an obvious and egregious violation of the First Amendment, because it permits both discrimination against a particular viewpoint and because it is a prior restraint on Americans’ right to travel,” CCR Legal Director William Goodman says, “the U.S. government appears to be targeting citizens because of their beliefs.”
"What we are trying to do is get information," she said. "Virtually all information about this list is based in secrecy. One of the things were are very concerned about is whether First Amendment activity is a reason for being on the list," she said, referring to actions protected by the Bill of Rights guarantee to freedom of expression.
One of the other main problems is that the name-matching techniques behind the processing of names on the list can be over 100 years old when it was used in the 1890 census. There is apparently several techniques used, but none of them are fail-safe, and the results get pretty strange.
Mihir Kshirsagar, a policy analyst with Electronic Privacy Information Center, a non profit watchdog group, said that until the TSA clearly defines rules for the “No-Fly” list, people’s civil liberties will continue to suffer.
Some people are very concerned that these new powers by the administration, can be extended at will, to other areas.
Some say, “You’re going to get pulled aside for reasons you just don’t know It’s not just the airports,” he said, explaining that the TSA has jurisdiction over every mode of interstate travel. They way they are talking, it will soon involve all forms of transportation, If you want to go from point A to point B, I guess you can always walk."
I don't know, how much do you trust our Government?
I wonder if my name is on there, I'll let you know if I try to fly anywhere.
# posted by Thomas @ 10:54 PM 
