Posted on 07/18/2002 2:36:22 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Secret rule demanding 'Your Papers Please' claimed unconstitutional San Francisco - Civil libertarian John Gilmore today challenged as unconstitutional a secret federal rule that requires domestic US travelers to identify themselves. "United States courts have recognized for more than a century that honest citizens have the right to travel throughout America without government restrictions. Some people say that everything changed on 9/11, but patriots have stood by our Constitution through centuries of conflict and uncertainty. Any government that tracks its citizens' movements and associations, or restricts their travel using secret decrees, is violating that Constitution," said Gilmore. "With this case, I hope to redirect government anti-terrorism efforts away from intrusive yet useless measures such as ID checks, confiscation of tweezers, and database surveillance of every traveler's life." At issue is a series of secret security directives issued by the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), in consultation with the Department of Justice and the Office of Homeland Security. The directives appear to require US airlines to demand identification before allowing customers to travel. Because the directives are secret, no citizen actually knows what they require. On July 4, Southwest Airlines staff prevented Gilmore from boarding a pre-paid flight from Oakland to Washington, D.C, where he intended to petition the government to alter the ID check. He then went to San Francisco International Airport and tried to purchase a similar ticket on United Airlines. Both airlines, though unable to identify any actual regulation requiring him to identify himself, prevented him from flying. United stated that they were following an unwritten regulation that had only been communicated to them orally, and which changes frequently. "History shows many abuses when government agents can demand 'your papers, please!'" said Bill Simpich, an Oakland civil rights lawyer, and lead attorney in Gilmore's suit. "TSA plans to deploy 'CAPPS II' later this year. This will use your ID to search in a stew of databases like credit records, previous travel history, criminal records, motor vehicle records, banks, web searches, and companies that collect personal information from consumer transactions. Your life history will be gathered and scanned, using secret criteria, whenever you book a flight or arrive at an airport. If the machine decides you're a risk, the airline will not let you fly, and federal cops will show up to interrogate you. They will probably tell you that you were 'randomly' selected for all this attention, but they will be lying." Gilmore v. Ashcroft, filed today in Federal Court for the Northern District of California, challenges every secret regulation that demands identification from innocent citizens, or restricts their domestic travel. Such regulations are unconstitutional because they are unpublished; require government agents to search and seize citizens who are not suspected of crimes; burden the rights to travel, associate, and petition the government; and discriminate against those who choose anonymity. The case also argues that because the regulations are secret, they violate the Freedom of Information Act. Mr. Gilmore is a businessman, civil libertarian, and philanthropist. He was the fifth employee of Sun Microsystems, an early author of open source software, and co- creator of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Cypherpunks, the DES Cracker, and the Internet's "alt" newsgroups. He serves as a director on several for-profit and nonprofit boards. The legal complaint, FAQ, and other case documents can be found at: http://cryptome.org/freetotravel.htm Contacts: John Gilmore - plaintiff William Simpich - lead counsel David Greene - First Amendment Project. Contact FAP for comments on the burdening of the right to petition the government. Linda Ackerman - Privacyactivism.org. Contact for CAPPS I and II profiling issues.
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It looks like you approve of targeting 90-yeard old grandmas instead of the people who are actually likely to be terrorists.
Nope, sorry. Wrong.
"There had been a problem with people buying tickets under one name and showing up under another. They were doing this to avoid prosecution for crimes committed or to perhaps commit a crime on the plane itself. In order to solve the problem, the government developed a minimally invasive process. The ticket-holder provides Photo ID matching the ticket."
So, then if the problem and solution are so simple, WHY ISN'T THE REGULATION POSTED IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER?? There is no place in the U.S. for SECRET REGULATIONS--that is the kind of thing that goes on under tyrannical governments--you know, like Nazi Germany, Communist East Germany, Soviet Russia, King George's England. This is one of the reasons we had that little shindig in 1776 and years following.
ANY rule of this sort should be PUBLISHED, IN FULL, in the Federal Register AND ONLINE. "Secret" laws, trials in "Secret" courts, etc. are anathema to American citizens.
What part of "show me your papers" don't you understand?
Sorry to disrupt your disruption, but where this lawsuit says "...every secret regulation that demands identification from innocent citizens, or restricts their domestic travel. Such regulations are unconstitutional because they are unpublished; require government agents to search and seize citizens who are not suspected of crimes; burden the rights to travel, associate, and petition the government; and discriminate against those who choose anonymity. ", They are absolutely correct.
Either we live in a constitutional republic which respects the rule of law and the limits our constitution places on our goverment, or...
or we have neither a constitutional republic nor respect for the limits our constitution places on our government.
From this and other postings, I would have to assume you must prefer the latter. Please say it ain't so.
There had been a problem with people buying tickets under one name and showing up under another. They were doing this to avoid prosecution for crimes committed or to perhaps commit a crime on the plane itself.
Actually, they were doing this because they had a friend who wasn't able to take the flight, or their company didn't know which employee was going to be able to fly at the time the ticket was purchased, etc.
The airlines hated this because they wanted to be able to charge extra for last-minute bookings, etc.
In order to solve the problem, the government developed a minimally invasive process. The ticket-holder provides Photo ID matching the ticket.
Nope. The requirement for photo IDs was adopted by the airlines on their own, without a government mandate.
Sorry to disagree, but this is exactly what the requirement does. Try traveling without ID, and see how far you get.
This lawsuit is all about a loudmouth Losertarian getting to strut his stuff. Just like godless Michael Newdow. For most Losertarians their god is their self.
The word "liberty" includes and comprehends all personal rights and their enjoyment.
It embraces freedom from duress,
freedom from governmental interference in exercise of intellect,
in formation of opinions,
in the expression of them,
and in action or inaction dictated by judgment,
freedom from servitude, imprisonment or restraint,
freedom in enjoyment and use of all of one's powers, faculties and property,
freedom of assembly,
freedom of citizen from banishment,
freedom of conscience,
freedom of contract,
freedom of locomotion or movement,
freedom of occupation,
freedom of press,
freedom of religion,
and freedom of speech.
It also embraces right of self-defense against unlawful violence,
right to acquire and enjoy property,
right to acquire useful knowledge,
right to carry on business,
right to earn livelihood in any lawful calling,
right to emigrate, and if a citizen, to return,
right to engage in a lawful business, to determine the price of one's labor, and to fix the hours when one's place of business shall be kept open,
right to enjoy to the fullest extent the privileges and immunities given or assured by law to people living within the country,
right to forswear allegiance and expatriate oneself,
right to freely buy and sell as others may,
right to labor,
right to live and work where one will,
right to marry and have a family,
right to pursue a chosen calling,
and, the right to use property according owner's will.
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