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Lawsuit filed over air travel ID rules: The defendants named in the suit are John Ashcroft (U.S. attorney general), Robert Mueller (FBI director), Norm Mineta (U.S. Department of Transportation secretary), Jane F. Garvey (Federal Aviation Administration chief), John W. Magaw (Transportation Security Administration chief), Tom Ridge (Office of Homeland Security chief), United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines. John Gilmore files lawsuit claiming that there is a "secret" government rule requiring passengers to show identification before boarding an airplane.
Gilmore was the fifth employee of Sun Microsystems. He is the co-creator of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization that defends civil liberties in cyberspace.

The Show-ID-Before-You-Board-A-Plane regulation is unconstitutional because it is unpublished; requires government agents to search and seize citizens who are not suspected of crimes; burdens the rights to travel, associate, and petition the government; and discriminates against those who choose anonymity. People in the U.S. have a right to travel and associate without being monitored or stopped by their government, unless they are actually suspected or convicted of a crime, and unless that suspicion is reasonable.

Gilmore argues that because the regulations are secret, they violate the federal Freedom of Information Act. A government that tracks its citizens' movements and associations, or restricts their travel using secret decrees, is violating the Constitution. At one point, the Transportation Security Administration said that they do, in fact, require air carriers to request passengers show a valid form of identification from a government issuer. Then, they said that the actual presentation of ID by passengers is not required. Refusal to allow passengers to board or not board the aircraft is at the discretion of the airline. They have denied that the federal government prohibits flying without an ID. Which is it?
For more information about the lawsuit, visit: Gilmore v. Ashcroft -- FAA ID Challenge

posted by Hal 7:28 PM