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An Irish-born pilot who was labeled a security threat by the Transportation Security Administration when he attempted to learn to fly a larger plane is hoping to settle the matter out of court, according to Eric Gershon of the Cape Cod Times.
Cape Air pilot Robert Gray, 35, sued the feds in July after they denied his flight school application and alleges he was subsequently was placed on the "no-fly" list as punishment. If true, he would be the first person, outside of a few (but not all) high level Al Qaeda and some Guantanamo detainee, known to actually be on the list.
Many, including Senator Edward Kennedy and Sister Glenn Anne McPhee, have matched against the list due to name similarities.
If Gray is on the list, he would be the only person likely to have standing to challenge the legality of the no-fly list. The challenge would be interesting since the no-fly list is an odd bird. Bruce Schneier calls it a list of people too dangerous to fly, but not dangerous enough to arrest. I'm more interested in the challenge since the list is an extra-legal administrative punishment that sits in a very gray legal area. And until now no one seemed to have a way to challenge.
The government has long argued that the no-fly list and Secure Flight do not implicate the right to travel (generally understood as deriving in part from the First Amendment) since there are other ways people can travel. The suit by several Alaskans who can only get to the Alaskan capital and their jobs by plane would have mooted that argument, but that lawsuit is currently on hold.
As for one of the weirdnesses of a no-fly list, consider that Gray is Irish. If Gray is on the no-fly list, how would he get back to Ireland if he wanted to?
Link: Eric Gershon's Cape Cod Times story
Posted by Ryan Singel at November 28, 2005 09:41 AM
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This week’s stupid news headlines include stupid terrorist threats, stupid taxation, and that stupid no-fly list again.
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Tracked on November 30, 2005 12:07 PM
Post a commentPresumably by boat.
Posted by: iTripped at December 5, 2005 02:54 PM