TSA No Fly List

MSNBC reports that the TSA "No Fly List" has doubled in size in the last year.

The biggest problems with the TSA list:  1) It's secret.  2) There is no Due Process to get removed if put on improperly.  3) It's treated as gospel by some elements of the government when it does not reflect convictions; just suspicions.

Ask the victims of Joe McCarthy in the 1950s.  Secret lists seldom work well under the concepts of freedom and liberty.  Worse, the government won't discuss what flags an individual to be added to this list, making a case for critics about its arbitrary nature.  It took Ted Kennedy, a US Congressman, two distinct efforts to remove himself from this secret list. 

There is no Due Process regarding the list.  Drafting a letter, with no feedback, is insufficient.  There is no judicial review.  The victimized citizen cannot know whether he or she has been removed until an attempt is made to board a plane.  The result is that an American Citizen is punished without a trial, without any chance to go before a judge, without legal advice.  When an attempt is made to rectify the situation, said citizen is not considered worth informing of the resulting decision.  If it took Kennedy, a powerful and politically connected man, two attempts, what chance does a regular citizen have?

Certain politicians want to use the "No Fly" list as part of the Brady Instant Background Check for firearms purchases.  The problem with this desire is laid out above: secret list with no accountability and no publicly acknowledged standards, as well as no Due Process for any Citizen wrongfully placed on the list.

Since the government doesn't publish the requirements to be placed on the "No Fly" list, one wonders if all it takes is criticizing the wrong person in power.  There is no accountability with the cloak of secrecy invoked for the list.

Let's shine some light on the list.  We, The People, must jealously guard our Freedoms and such lists are contrary to protecting those freedoms.