A lawsuit filed today in Federal District Court in Michigan challenges “the widespread government practice of placing names on watch lists without providing individuals with any notice of the factual basis for their placement and without offering a meaningful opportunity to contest the designation.” According to the complaint: This lawsuit is an expression of anger […]
We’ve focused mostly on the “no-fly” list and other government blacklists and “watchlists” restricting the movement of people. But the latest administrative injustice involving an innocent British philosopher reminds us that government blacklists also restrict the movement of information, goods, and money — sometimes with serious negative effects on innocent people’s lives. How the US […]
In a judgment announced yesterday, the European Court of Justice has ruled that a secret list promulgated by the European Commission, specifying items to be prohibited from airline carry-on baggage, cannot be enforced against individual airline passengers because it was not made public: The annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 622/2003 of 4 April 2003 […]
In a unanimous 9-0 decision announced today, the US Supreme Court has ruled that a lawsuit brought by Yonas Fikre challenging the US government’s placing him on its no-fly list can go forward even though the government has, for the time being (and only after he sued), taken him off its travel blacklist. Mr. Fikre […]
As we mark twenty years since the creation of this website for the Identity Project, perhaps it’s time to assess the state of freedom of movement in the USA and for US citizens. We’ve been reporting, in more detail than anyone else, on changes in policies and practices that affect our right to travel freely. […]
Today the US Supreme Court heard more than an hour of oral argument (transcript, MP3 audio) in the case of FBI v. Fikre, the latest in a series of cases in which the government has tried to avoid having a judge or jury review the criteria, procedures, and factual basis (if any) for no-fly decisions […]
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument this Monday, January 8, 2024 on an appeal brought by the FBI challenging a Circuit Court decision in favor of Yonas Fikre. It’s the second case on the Supreme Court’s 10 a.m. EST calendar for oral argument Monday. You can listen live online, attend a live watch […]
Two recent court cases, and follow-up articles and interviews with the plaintiffs and their lawyers, show how the highest priority for the U.S. government with respect to no-fly orders continues to be preventing judicial review of these government decisions, not preventing terrorism. When an airline requests permission to allow an individual to board a flight, […]
In one of the worst court decisions on the right to travel since Gilmore v. Gonzales, a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the decision of a U.S. District Court in the case of Elhady v. Kable that the U.S. government’s system of extrajudicial administrative blacklists (euphemistically and inaccurate called […]
[“How do you get on the no-fly list?” Larger image; PDF with legend.] In the aftermath of the storming of the U.S. Capitol last week, there’s been a confused cacophony of calls to “put the rioters on the no-fly list.” At the same time, there have been equally confusing claims and denials that some people […]