Posted on 08/22/2009 11:42:56 AM PDT by BGHater
Critics of the government's secret no-fly list scored a potentially important victory Monday when a federal appeals court ruled that would-be passengers can ask a judge and jury to decide whether their inclusion on the list violates their rights.
In a 2-1 ruling, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated a suit by a former Stanford University student who was detained and handcuffed in 2005 as she was about to board a plane to her native Malaysia.
The ruling is apparently the first to allow a challenge to the no-fly list to proceed in a federal trial court, said the plaintiff's lawyer, Marwa Elzankaly.
The decision would allow individuals to demand information from the government, present evidence on why they should not have been on the list, and take the case to a jury, Elzankaly said.
The ruling means that "someone who finds it's likely that their name has been placed on a government watch list will get their day in court," Elzankaly said.
The Transportation Security Administration, which maintains the no-fly list, had no comment on the case, said Nico Melendez, an agency spokesman in Los Angeles.
A federal judge in San Francisco had dismissed the suit, citing a law that requires all challenges to TSA orders to be filed directly in an appeals court, with no right to present evidence or convene a jury. But the appeals court majority, led by Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, said the no-fly list, though maintained by the TSA, is actually compiled by a branch of the FBI, which can be sued in a trial court like most other federal agencies.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
9CCoA finally does something right.
They dont need to challenge the list.... Obama said the war on terror is over. Ban is lifted!
Dam, didn’t catch that. I thought it was 09. Thanks.
Posting error, wrong date, is 09. Remove as needed.
Wouldn't it be necessary for the gov't to provide the criteria for listing someone in the first place?
“Wouldn’t it be necessary for the gov’t to provide the criteria for listing someone in the first place?”
And I thought the govt had to prove guilt instead of citizens proving their innocence.
That was when we adhered to the constitution.
Don't tempt the IRS. You'll learn otherwise.
Amazing.....but suspicious.....
de nada. Had me wondering how they could still be pinning this on Bush :)
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