There is a major decision out of Oregon where U.S. District Judge Anna Brown has ruled that the government’s no-fly list is unconstitutional since there is no meaningful way to contest inclusion of the list barring you from commercial flights. Brown issued a 65 page ruling with the holding that the “inclusion on the no-fly list constitutes a significant deprivation of their liberty interests in international travel.” It is a refreshing opinion from the federal courts which tend to be highly deferential to the government in this area.
Central to the decision is Brown’s recognition that “international travel is not a mere convenience or luxury in this modern world. Indeed, for many international travel is a necessary aspect of liberties sacred to members of a free society.” We have all heard horror stories of how people are mistakenly placed on this list and how they find themselves in an endless bureaucratic process to correct such mistakes. The sheer stupidity of many of these mistakes has been shocking with government officials barring people with similarly sounding names to terrorists like Bin Laden or the cavalier addition of names despite the huge cost to the individuals. The list is a CYA moment for many officials who want to be more safe than sorry, but those unfairly placed on the list find themselves in a governmental nightmare of red tape and delay.
In this case, the the 13 plaintiffs insisted that they have no links to terrorism and only learned of their no-fly status when they arrived at an airport. Four of them are military veterans.
The decision is well-written and well-researched and worth reading. It finally imposes a modest obligation on the government to act in a reasonable fashion.
Source: NPR
“Yet, ethnic minorities and Muslims are routinely picked upon as the go-to boogie man of Fear incorporated! Why?”
Well, it’s been a smashing success for the oil, defense, and security industries.Torture was simply a period of “negative revenue contributions.” And by “negative” I mean no person who was rich before torture was any less so afterwards. Quite the reverse.
p.s.
Jim, when giving descriptors of an individual…
… Do you usually follow it up by, “Had the guy been black or another minority or obviously Muslim” to clarify it?
This is why racial profiling is bad!
Tim McVeigh was NOT a minority.
Tim McVeigh was NOT a Muslim.
Yet, ethnic minorities and Muslims are routinely picked upon as the go-to boogie man of Fear incorporated! Why?
If one wants to survive in this world, you PROFILE; just don’t make it verbally obvious. We all do it, whether liberal or conservative or libertarian.
Jim, I’ll say it one last time… er, actually Randyjet did for himself, “Had the guy been black or another minority or obviously Muslim…”
What does being black or another minority have to do with anything?
And yes, he did racially profile. He approved of it being a white man and rewarded the man, “give him free drinks for the duration of the flight.”
THAT is why I asked, had the man been black, hispanic or gawd forbid, muslim, whould he have rewarded him with free drinks, too?
Max-1, I think you are reading to much into this. I’m not sure what race Randyjet is, but for me being an average white guy, if I had to question somebody in his authority position, I too would be happy to see that the guy was an average white person so I wouldn’t be accused of racial profiling. If I was black I might wish that the passenger was black also for similar reasons.
Jill – “Actually, the govt. has admitted that airport screaming tactics are not about keeping us safe.”
Jill, This spelling mistake made me laugh. I just had this image of an airport security checkpoint where the TSA comes up to you and screams at you. Maybe it would work?
Jim22,
Then he should have said “Middle Eastern types” NO?
But he didn’t. “black or another minority”
That’s Hispanic, Asian, Polynesian, etc.
“or obviously Muslim” … You know, badges on outer clothing, like triangles and stars, helps clear the confusion for any concerned. Just saying.
James Knauer,
I think the clue bus is short a few passengers…
I hope, by me drawing out the comparative quote from Randyjet, others might see how he phrased his perception. White is right… other ethnic minorities AND especially Muslim, not so. It’s one thing to give an ethnic descriptor to specify a “person”. It is far different to malign an entire ethnic population through descriptors of ethnic segregation. “Those blacks” “Those Muslims” “Those Hispanics” … I guess Randyjet doesn’t give free drinks to “them”.
Max-1 – it would be wrong to offer free alcoholic drinks to Muslims. And Max-1 did Timmy fly his plane into the WTC or the Pentagon?
max-1 normally I would not bother to respond to such a stupid post, but I could not resist stating that if the person had been a minority or Muslim, I would have gladly given them free drinks too if they did the legal and reasonable thing by complying by my request. Too bad you cannot understand simple things.
I might be wrong, but I think Randyjets point of stating the color of the person was that he was relieved since if it had been a Middle Eastern guy, he would have been accused of profiling. The fact that he brings it up and gets jumped on, shows just how far we have to go on race, since you can’t even bring the topic up with out being crucified. And we wonder and complain about PC. Now i will probably get piled on too, because I must be a racist since I stepped out of line.
“Randyjet’s comment was well founded…”
Yes, it’s clear upon what it’s founded. Been that way for ages now. But times they are a-changin. Well, have changed, rather. The clue bus keeps circling but ridership is down, and deliberately so.
To focus on skin color instead of behavior is not rational. To further anticipate behavior based on skin color is cause for dismissal. In what other profession is this permitted?
Competence, please.
Darren Smith,
I wonder the same. Our private lives are kept secret from us by our Government… because you know, terrorism! Oh, and transparency.
Randyjet
“Had the guy been black or another minority or obviously Muslim…”
= = =
What, no free drinks then?
Or does race regularly play into your judgement of others?
i have proposed in the past that there is a law called “The conservation of stress” When traveling from point “A” to point “B” there is a certain amount of stress involved. If you choose to drive from “A” to “B” the stress is small but over a long time period. If you choose to fly “A” to “B” the time is a lot shorter but the stress is way higher. So in the end the amount of stress is the same. I like some here have suggested, choose to drive whenever I can.
I’m a lot more content that I do not fly anymore.
“Read 14 CFR,”
That is a statue set out by legislation. It is not a proclamation by the King. It also lays out limits for pilot behavior as well. Pilots are also not kinds. Yes, broad discretion is available, but it depends on the pilot being attached to reality.
The pilot in question said, ““Fortunately, the guy was white and did as requested.”
That is not attached to reality, and suggests the pilot’s judgement is easily clouded. I would ask for another pilot.
James – we here in Arizona we are victims of the group of Muslims who disturbed the plane, got kicked off and then successfully sued the airline at the behest of CAIR. Randyjet’s comment was well founded (and God knows I rarely agree with randyjet).
I am doing some traveling next month and will keep all of my phone options in mind. 🙂 My brother no longer flies because of the mess at the airport. He will drive wherever he wants to go.
Vince – love it.
If you want good airport security, you emulate what works.
Dredd
In Riley v California the Supreme Court held today that: “The police generally may not, without a warrant, search digital information on a cell phone seized from an individual who has been arrested.”
Thanks, Dredd. Unfortunately, they’ll probably keep right on doing it…
Actually, the govt. has admitted that airport screaming tactics are not about keeping us safe. If the govt. admits to this openly. Time for citizens to know what the govt. is doing and why.
Vince wrote “El Al hasn’t had a terrorist incident on one of its planes for many decades”
However:
– El Al does not have anywhere near the traffic that Delta and United do.
– El Al only uses four airports in North America: JFK, EWR, LAX, and YYZ.
– Israelis have a vested interest in keeping their country safe; some U.S. airports appear to employ many Somalis, even ones in headscarves.
– El Al probably turns down a large number of Muslims, but no one in the Israeli government will ever make a political issue of profiling.