What's your prediction, Bill?
At oral argument, the government was stymied by what we considered a relatively straightforward question: what should United States citizens and legal permanent residents do if they believe they have been wrongly included on the No-Fly List?"
The ACLU says "The Ninth Circuit reached the right answer: federal district courts can adjudicate citizens' and permanent residents' challenges to their placement on the No Fly List and their demand for a fair redress process."
"This decision means that a court will finally consider our clients' claims that a secret government watch list that denies Americans the ability to fly without giving them an explanation or fair chance to clear their names violates the Constitution."
How does all this official two-ing and fro-ing affect our citizens?
Some can't go abroad. Some are abroad and can't come home. They miss important meetings where their veterans' benefits will be discussed. They are separated from their families and their lawyers. They are incurring substantial legal and other costs for which they will not be reimbursed.
What will happen?
I'm always reluctant to predict what any court will do with any case, much less one this fraught with government secrecy. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Obama lawyers invoke the State Secrets privilege, as the Bush administration did so many times, to keep this information from the public. So much for the transparency President Obama promised us!
So, the ACLU can proceed with its lawsuit. Any idea when we can expect a resolution, hopefully a positive one, to the case?
Joan, there's no timetable as of now.
In other words, no relief in sight. Anything to add before we wrap this up, Bill?
I'm reminded of a comment Chip Pitts made to me. He's the former CEO of Amnesty. He told me "If your security has to depend on what you do or don't do at the airports, you're doing something wrong."
One last thing. I noticed that you worked for the government in various capacities for more than 30 years. Is the No-Fly List mess simply an outgrowth of 9/11 or did you see anything similar in terms of government opacity and overreach during your tenure?When I worked in the JFK Administration, there were secrets, of course. Every government has secrets, all the time. But there was nothing approaching the kind of over-classification that we see now and that prevents citizens from knowing things they have a perfect right to know. That was the product of 9/11 and the Bush Administration's zeal to maintain maximum power in the Executive Branch.
Of course, during my time in Washington, we first had the Bay of Pigs disaster following by the Russian Missile Crisis, so things were pretty tense all around.
But following JKF's rules seemed like the Junior Prom compared with the labyrinth of regulations we find today. And I have to wonder: How many of these regulations are actually doing someone some good!
Good question. Thanks so much for talking with me, Bill. It's been a pleasure!
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