ACLU-NC Files Lawsuit Challenging Government Secrecy about “No-Fly” List and other Transportation Watch Lists


For Immediate Release: April 22, 2003

SAN FRANCISCO - The FBI and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act by failing to provide information about a secret “no-fly” list and other transportation watch lists, according to the ACLU of Northern California. The ACLU-NC filed a lawsuit today demanding immediate disclosure of the requested records. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The ACLU-NC filed the FOIA and Privacy Act requests on behalf of itself and peace activists Jan Adams and Rebecca Gordon on November 12, 2002. Earlier that year, both women were told by airline agents that their names appeared on a secret “no-fly” list at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and were briefly detained by San Francisco Police while their names were checked against a "master" list.

On March 12, 2003 the ACLU-NC also filed a records request with SFO under the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance and the California Public Records Act. On April 8, SFO released nearly 400 pages of documents which confirm that approximately 339 air passengers, between September 2001 and March 2003, were stopped or questioned at SFO in connection with the “no-fly” list and other watch lists.

"The government has so far failed to disclose even basic information about the "no-fly" list, such as why names are added to the list, how incorrect names can be removed from such lists, and what the guidelines and restrictions are regarding the use of such lists," said Jayashri Srikantiah, staff attorney with the ACLU-NC. “The public has a right to accountability about the “no-fly” list and other government watch lists."

“At SFO alone, hundreds of passengers were stopped or questioned in connection with the “no-fly” list," Srikantiah continued. "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.”

An earlier Public Records Act request to SFO had confirmed the existence of the “no-fly” list, and that Gordon and Adams’ names were checked against a “master” list. The scant public information that is available about transportation watch lists confirms that the TSA maintains at least two watch lists: the “no-fly” list and a “selectee” list that establishes which air passengers are singled out for additional security measures.
Adams and Gordon, co-publishers of War Times, a newspaper that first began publication after September 11, 2001, are deeply troubled by the secrecy of the watch list.

“We are deeply concerned about the government’s secret watch lists and the lack of government accountability,” said Adams. “We want to find out how our names appeared on a government watch list and how we can get our names off the list. But instead of answering our questions, the federal government has refused to release any information.”

Adams and Gordon were stopped at SFO on August 7, 2002, when they checked in for an American Trans Air (ATA) flight to Boston via Chicago. The ATA agents who checked them in told them that their names appeared on a “no-fly” list. San Francisco police arrived and informed Adams and Gordon that the police would have to check whether their names appeared on a “master list.” Although they were eventually allowed to fly, their boarding passes were marked with a red “S,” which subjected them to additional searches at SFO.

Barbara Musante, a computer consultant, and (her husband) Dennis Musante, a manager with Wells Fargo Bank, were also told by airline officials at SFO that their names appeared on a federal “no-fly” list.

"To detain innocent people because their name(s) are similar to someone who the FBI feels may be a danger to this country, is frustrating and not acceptable,” said Barbara Musante.

“This is a lawsuit brought to vindicate the public’s right to oversee the government’s creation of a secret and flawed no-fly list to screen airline passengers,” said Thomas R. Burke, cooperating attorney with the ACLU-NC and partner at the San Francisco office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. “We think this information should be of interest to all Americans, since an inaccurate and secret list will not make us safer but will result in innocent air travelers being stopped and questioned across the country.”