"You're under arrest!" "What's the charge?" "None of your damn business!"
How the HELL can someone be found in violation of a "secret law?"
How can there even BE a "secret law?"
Quote of note:
In court documents, the U.S. government at first said it could not confirm whether there was a security directive requiring passengers to show ID. In an about-face, the government last month acknowledged that the order existed in a new court filing. As it turns out, the order was mentioned in an obscure maritime security rule published in May 2004.
If Gilmore succeeds in forcing the government to disclose what its secret law says, other attorneys worry it would set a dangerous precedent that could harm efforts to combat terrorism.
Anyway…
Secret Rule Requiring ID for Flights at Center of Court Battle
By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 7, 2004; Page A13
John Gilmore, a tech-industry millionaire and privacy advocate, set out two years ago to challenge a basic element of airline security.
On July 4, 2002, he refused to show a photo identification when checking in at Oakland, Calif., for a flight to Baltimore on Southwest Airlines. The same day, he declined United Airline's demand to present an ID for a flight from San Francisco to Washington. In both instances, Gilmore, 49, was prohibited from boarding and was informed by the airlines that a federal security rule required passengers to show an ID in order to fly.
However, no airline employee could cite the rule.
Gilmore sued several government agencies and the airlines, claiming the ID requirement infringes on Americans' right to travel freely. The lawsuit, Gilmore v. Ashcroft, has forced the government to defend the existence of secret security rules that apply to millions of travelers.
The Bush administration said in court filings that it cannot discuss the ID rule because it is outlined in a document that the Transportation Security Administration deems "security sensitive information." For that reason, the government has petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to file its documents so that they not be made public. The court is expected to make a decision soon.
"We had never heard of the government asking to submit secret briefs . . . when it wasn't based on some secret criminal investigation that needed to be protected," said Susan E. Seager, an attorney who filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of media organizations including the Associated Press, McClatchy Newspapers Inc. and Los Angeles Times Communications LLC
