Appeals court allows no-fly challenge to proceed
By Jonathan J. Cooper
Topics: From the Wires, News
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that a lawsuit over the government’s no-fly list can go forward in a lower court in Oregon.
In a unanimous ruling, the three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that a lower court improperly threw out the lawsuit. U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown rejected the case last year, saying her court didn’t have authority over the policies and procedures of the Transportation Security Administration.
The lawsuit was filed in 2010 by American Civil Liberties Union lawyers on behalf of 15 men who were barred from returning to the United States. It seeks to remove the plaintiffs from the no-fly list or tell them why they’re on it.
The no-fly list is maintained by the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center. It includes names and classified evidence against suspected terrorists who are not allowed to fly in U.S. airspace. The names are provided to the TSA, which works with airlines and law enforcement to ensure people on the list don’t board domestic or international flights.
The TSA maintains a grievance process for people affected by the list, but decisions about who is on it are made by the Terrorist Screening Center.
The appeals court ruled that only the Terrorist Screening Center, not the TSA, can provide the relief that the plaintiffs are seeking, and the district court has jurisdiction over the center. The appellate judges did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit.
“More than two years ago, our clients were placed on a secret government blacklist that denied their right to travel without an explanation or chance to confront the evidence against them,” Nusrat Choudhury, an ACLU lawyer who argued the case, said in a statement. “The Constitution requires the government to provide our clients a fair chance to clear their names and a court will finally hear their claims.”
A Department of Justice spokesman said agency officials are reviewing the decision and declined to comment.
Related Stories
More Related Stories
-
51 killed in massive Oklahoma tornado
-
Don't cry climate-change wolf
-
Record tornado devastates Oklahoma
-
Limbaugh: No one willing to impeach the first black president
-
Tornado reduces Oklahoma City suburb to rubble
-
AP: Toll at least 37 dead in Okla. tornado
-
Entire Midwest on tornado warning
-
Oregon senator proposes appeal to Monsanto Protection Act
-
Supreme Court to rule on prayer at government meetings
-
Beltway scandal machine breaks, knows nothing about America
-
Gitmo hunger striker launches Twitter campaign
-
"Hero" cop, honored by Obama, accused of double rape
-
Father of gay high school student arrested for dating classmate speaks out
-
Pentagon adviser pushed Anthrax drug, which his firm produced
-
Conservatives A-OK with closeted Boy Scouts
-
The new geography of poverty
-
Promotion for NYPD cop who cost city $1.5m in settlements
-
Obama to all-male university graduates: Be the best husband to "your boyfriend or partner"
-
The truth in Kanye's anti-prison rap
-
GOP attorney general candidate tried to force women to report miscarriages to police
-
Chinese hackers resume attacks against U.S.
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
-
Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
Credit: AP/LM Otero -
Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
Credit: AP/Matt Rourke -
A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher -
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
Credit: AP/Molly Riley -
Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite -
Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster -
O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid -
Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield -
When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin -
A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin -
Recent Slide Shows
- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
Related Videos
Most Read
-
Horrifying new trend: Posting rapes to Facebook
Mary Elizabeth Williams
-
Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia
Andrew Leonard
-
"Jodorowsky's Dune": The sci-fi classic that never was
Andrew O'Hehir
-
We're living in an Ayn Rand economy
Paul Buchheit, AlterNet
-
My open relationship went awry
David Farley
-
Obstruction will ruin GOP
Jonathan Bernstein
-
Will you marry me -- once you're done peeing?
Tracy Clark-Flory
-
GOP attorney general candidate tried to force women to report miscarriages to police
Katie Mcdonough
-
Jaron Lanier: The Internet destroyed the middle class
Scott Timberg
-
Penn Jillette's secrets of "Celebrity Apprentice": Donald Trump is a whackjob!
Penn Jillette
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com

865 points866 points867 points | 177 comments

38 points39 points40 points | 7 comments


Comments
0 Comments